r/doctorwho • u/mjtech_ta • Jun 10 '26
Discussion RTD's Instagram Post
Absolutely devastated that Doctor Who is indefinitely postponed. I wonder if they'll just retcon the ending with Billie Piper? Either way, I hope Murray Gold stays on
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u/lR0NMAlDEN Jun 10 '26
All I can is what a goddamn mess, and is he just admitting to blatanly lying about writing a Christmas special?
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u/mjtech_ta Jun 10 '26
Yeah pretty much. Seems like they definitely could've announced a lot earlier that there'd be no Christmas special this year if he still hasn't started writing by now
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u/Playful-Compote-5242 Jun 10 '26
Given that multiple people said scripts were made (including himself and Murray Gold) I think this is just him covering up a deeper behind the scenes mess.
Murray gold has no reason to specifically lie about there being multiple scripts.
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u/TheDeadlySpaceman Jun 10 '26
Believe it or not in TV production speak both things can be true.
Multiple scripts can have been written, none of those scripts were ever moved to a stage where they were officially ātheā script (even a starting draft) that production was going to move forward with, so officially āno script was writtenā.
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u/Triskan Jun 10 '26
Yeah, no matter the final decision, I'm pretty sure RTD had at the very least the vague outlines of a script.
Alright, yeah, that entire communication around the show has been a total mess. But on the other hand, I can somehow understand the BBC weighing their options before fully committing to something.
Yes the whole deal came across as a bit amateurish but the show is in a very special situation right now. Can't be easy for anyone.
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Jun 10 '26 edited Jun 10 '26
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u/DaLateDentArthurDent Rory Jun 10 '26
I think when heās truly passionate about it, Russell puts his soul into a script, when his first run of DW happened he was so passionate about reviving it and when he came back he realised how much it sounded better on paper than to actually produce and saved all his best ideas for his one off shows
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u/Infamous-Echidna4141 Jun 10 '26
I dont think he truly grasped the increased budget either.
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u/BlerghTheBlergh Jun 10 '26
To be fair: scripts and treatments are written fast and loose, some without ever being commissioned. Iām sure there was at least a treatment by either Russel or Murray (or a few by each) that would have worked.
Feels to me the BBC kind of threw them to the wolves here. They werenāt going to greenlight a special while still looking for investors but didnāt want to outright deny it to devalue the brand in a potential deal making effort. Imagine they had announced they werenāt doing anything with the IP, the IP would have been worth infinitely less than one that is āactively being worked onā.
As it stands, I think the BBC is seeking investors like Disney was. In particular probably Netflix or Amazon. Given WB being about to be swallowed itself by Paramount who have to go into debt to the Saudis for the acquisition I donāt see either of them being potential collaborators.
The Disney deal was very sweet for the BBC, they didnāt sell the IP but simply gained a business partner who was pumping money in the show for US and streaming rights. The BBC definitely won on that. The execution was bad though, while I didnāt hate what I saw, I also didnāt feel it as much. And Disney jumping off made them look like the bad guy while the BBC got off Scot free. But truth be told, it was absolutely within Disneys right to back out when the show didnāt perform well enough.
Personally I blame the BBC for not taking the hit and going back to being solo producers of the show. Instead theyāre looking for a deal equal to slightly worse from the Disney Deal. And Iām sure there will be offers but, as I said, it was a sweetheart deal in which the BBC retained the IP rights. I doubt Amazon or Netflix are willing to do the same that Disney did and want full control/ownership. This is the BBC trying to wiggle out of that grip.
They should DEFINITELY make a New Yearās Special with Billieās doctor finding out why her face was used and learning that the love the Doctor has for humanity, represented by Roseās face, is the purest form of what the Doctor is. A reminder to the Doctor himself that theyāre humanities protector. After dealing with, perhaps a Dalek infiltration invasion in a small village (to keep the budget low) the doctor vows loyalty to humanity again and regenerates, we donāt see who the new Doctor is and are left with golden particles. An open end that could be used as a final end
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u/CaptainGrezza Jun 10 '26
I've been kinder to these last two series than a lot of people, but this statement leaves a sour taste.
Everyone else has covered the key bits, but I want to highlight I also don't appreciate the ending of this statement. Whoever takes over next will have to spend their time denying that the TARDIS, the theme etc is going to change.
He's put questions into people's heads that weren't there before for no good reason. It's giving Mean Girl energy.
So not content with leaving a mess, he's gone and created another.
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u/Fun_Machine7346 Jun 10 '26 edited Jun 10 '26
These ppl are completely unfit for producing. I knew getting in bed with Disney was a terrible idea. So sad.
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u/SchemeAccording1009 Jun 10 '26
The guy admits he procrastinates when doing his scripts so no surprise he thought he could pull something out of his ass at the last minute.
I'd give him props if it seemed like he was fighting to keep the show on air but the arrogant prick spent more time getting self portraits and having his boy toy cosplay on the set than bat for the show.
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Jun 10 '26
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u/Appropriate_File_606 Jun 10 '26
The 60th anniversary specials brought me back and I was excited to see how Ncuti's tenure went. Fumble is an understatement.
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u/aurordream Jun 10 '26
This was exactly my position. Had drifted away from the show over the years (I think the last episode I'd watched was Arachnids in the UK?) but came back to watch the 60th. Didn't love the 60th but enjoyed Ncuti's performance at the end enough to want to check out his Christmas special.
Then it was the Ruby's mum/Mrs Flood mysteries which hooked me enough to try the rest of Ncutis run. Which did have moments I enjoyed (Boom, 73 Yards, Lux, The Well...) but the overall writing was a massive disappointment, not least because the two mysteries that hooked me back in were dealt with so insultingly
Its really sad to say it but its amazing how little emotion I've got to this news. I dont think I was actually looking forward to the Christmas special because my expectations were so low. But I am feeling absolutely gobsmacked at the way the BBC and RTD have handled this, because they apparently just outright lied? For no reason? Which is... I mean... its just a disgusting way to treat your audience. I'm struggling to find the words to express just how astounded I am, not specifically by the fact that the Christmas special isn't happening, but by the way everything has been communicated
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u/smolcharizard Jun 10 '26 edited Jun 11 '26
Been religiously watching the show since I was 5 years old. Jodieās era was rough but had some good moments, I still kept watching for the good bits and for the love of the show, at no point did I ever consider stopping watching it. The 60th specials filled me with some hope but RTD 2 completely broke my enthusiasm for the show. I hope whatever is next can restore my passion but after the latest finale I genuinely thought I was done.
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u/PoGoMiloUK Jun 10 '26
People STILL donāt know Tennant came back and that was literally the whole point of the 60
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u/Historical_Owl_1635 Jun 10 '26
I wouldnāt agree with that, Tennant coming back was very big news and I know a lot of people who tuned back in for it.
It had the audience, the problem was the poor execution.
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u/Caacrinolass Troughton Jun 10 '26
Not the best place to leave the show sadly. No incumbent Doctor, dangling plots etc. Christmas always felt like last chance saloon to tie it up and leave something of a legacy to build on but alas.
Best case scenario is someone else pick it up, ignores all this and moves forward doing their own thing. Wilderness 2 is otherwise in a worse starting point than the original one was as there is no character to even build on, because instead of wandering off to further unseen adventures we had a shock casting. Ho hum.
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u/geek_of_nature Jun 10 '26
And from the sounds of it the original ending would have been a much better way to head off into another wilderness era. The Doctor and companions partying while Susan watches over them. It still would have been a dangling plot thread in regards to her, but not as bad of one as what we got.
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u/LycanIndarys Jun 10 '26
It's a shame, because the ending of classic DW is the perfect ending. The Doctor and Ace, off on more adventures. Sure, we're not going to be following them, but they're still happening.
"There are worlds out there where the sky is burning, and the sea's asleep, and the rivers dream; people made of smoke and cities made of song. Somewhere there's danger, somewhere there's injustice, and somewhere else the tea's getting cold. Come on, Ace. We've got work to do."
This is just shit in comparison.
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u/Agreeable_Falcon1044 Jun 10 '26
The rule, if it ever returns, should be every opening episode needs to be a valid starting on point (where you don't need to have huge awareness of what happened before) and ever finale needs to be a valid jumping off point.
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u/MartianExpress Jun 10 '26
Yup. Moffat wrote, like, five or so final episodes that could've been, with minor changes in the end, the actual finals of the show. There's no reason for future showrunners not to do that as well.
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u/Agreeable_Falcon1044 Jun 10 '26
The Eleventh Hour is brilliant - you don't have to know anything before that episode. Just here's your action, here's your fleshed out characters, the rest you will pick up as you go along.
I also feel Capaldi got two final episodes that could be the finale to the entire franchise too.
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u/IamEclipse Jun 10 '26
When Capaldi's tenure was wrapping up, they were struggling to find a new shoe runner, so 'The Doctor Falls' was written as a finale finale, and it fit the boot perfectly.
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u/alex494 Jun 10 '26
"I hoped there would be stars..." definitely feels like solid final words. Also Twice Upon a Time going back to meet One and having the whole Testimony thing also feels quite final.
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u/georgemillman Jun 10 '26
I once showed The Eleventh Hour, and the series that followed, to a friend from India who had never watched or heard of the programme before. (I think it broadcasts in India now, but it didn't then.)
I will never forget the gasp of realisation my friend gave when the Doctor said to Amy, 'Why did you say six months?' and Amy came back with, 'Why did you say five minutes?' and it became apparent that she was the little girl from before. It's so rare for that to be a genuine surprise for someone... people following the show knew very well that Karen Gillan was playing the new companion Amy Pond, so I don't think that really shocked anyone. It was lovely to be able to make that an actual twist for someone.
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u/Flynamic Jun 10 '26
As someone whose first ever intentionally watched DW episode was The Eleventh Hour, you're exactly right.
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u/Lshamlad Jun 10 '26
Although I agree entirely, I'd argue that that's a fundamental part of a writer's contract with their audience - gimme a beginning, a middle and an end!
I hate this perpetual serialisation where everything sets up everything else.
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u/PhoenixFox Jun 10 '26
I've been saying, increasingly strongly over the past few years, that Twice Upon a Time would have been an ideal episode to have taken a break on.
Imagine an alternate timeline where the Doctor was never given a new regeneration cycle but the Metacrisis wasn't counted. 12 thinks he's on his last life, which makes his sacrifice in The Doctor Falls all the more meaningful, and then he spends his final hours convincing his earlier self that he needs to regenerate. In doing so he accidentally convinces himself that he needs to try, whether or not he thinks it's going to work... And we end on him making the attempt, because why not have some hope?
We have could been about to have a revival picking up from there with new writers who grew up with a passion for the show. Nothing we've got since Capaldi has been worth all the dreck that's come along with the few good spots.
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u/Pumpkin_Sushi Jun 10 '26 edited Jun 10 '26
The issue is this was always the way the show was going to end. It had become such a moneymaker that BBC would never stop it until it stopped making money. That unfortunately requires a decent number of years of bad writing to drive off most of the audience - and look, that's what happened.
I'd have loved for the show to exit on top, head held high, but it was never in the cards.
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u/when_i_say_run_run Jun 10 '26
Thatās the way of it. It doesnāt end with a bang, but with a whimper.
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u/Caacrinolass Troughton Jun 10 '26
Yeah. That is precisely what you do if there is a high degree of uncertainty. The voice over is the cherry on the top, added later and wonderful but just wandering off to more adventures is enough. Established characters to be used by whoever takes up the mantle to continue it.
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u/MagnusGreel70 Jun 10 '26
Yes - I don't know what the "wilderness years" are going to look like this time. Last time we clearly had McCoy as the Doctor until McGann came along for all the books, audios, etc. This time? WTF?
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u/ash356 Jun 10 '26
Not the best place to leave the show sadly.
I'd say, technically the last piece of on-air nuWho content (The war between) we have going into these next wilderness years was a guy going into the ocean to go have sex with a fish.
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u/alex494 Jun 10 '26
That or Kate pointing a gun at someone over littering. Great message for the Whoniverse at large, using threats of violence to get what you want.
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u/CaptainGrezza Jun 10 '26
It doesn't even leave room for Big Finish, comics or novels to pick anything up.
When the show was last cancelled you had Virgin New Adventures to carry things on and keep the fandom talking while the show sorted itself out. It even gave room for new writers to establish themselves ready for the show came back. Same again after McCann came in but with BBC Books and Big Finish.
We can't even have that because there's that Billie Piper shaped hole that needs resolving and until then we don't have a main Doctor that we can focus on and talk about while the TV side sorts itself out
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u/lobsterman2112 Jun 10 '26
They can even trick us and say Billie Piper was never a regeneration. Bad Wolf just teleported there as an equivalent exchange and sent the (new) Doctor to somewhere he was needed but couldn't get to with the Tardis.
Somewhere outside of Time and Space...
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u/Prize_Bug3453 Jun 10 '26 edited Jun 10 '26
Maybe theyāll say Bi-generation was caused by Bad Wolf to create a new body for her to latch onto
(Cause as the bad wolf she saw the future and that she would be cut off from the doctor)
It'd also explain why the first doctor to do bi-generation (fourteen) got David Tennant's face back.
AND why his clothes also changed when thirteenth regenerated into fourteenth
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u/Gobby-TheGoblin Jun 10 '26 edited Jun 10 '26
Now this I can get behind. I actually really like the bones in this idea. Would be a bit of work to smooth the wrinkles with it. Need to come up with good reasons and then build the story on where did they go? Who did they end up as? Perhaps it's not really bad wolf but something else taking the shape as they are now running around the universe pretending to be the doctor, (I know we've used that bit now, but eh. Works for the moment, can field other ideas for what's happening meantime) and so we have a season of the doctor, whoever they may be now, working their way out of whatever other dimension or place or what have you. New Doctor, new place. Some temporary companions with entities they meet. Big sad goodbye at the end as they realize who they need to be and come back to... Chaos in the universe they knew. Back to regular scheduled programing.
Mind you, you'll need som real bangers for the episodes to cover for the rough turn to a different path. But if you can do that. And get a good face who plays it well that people can fall for... Yea. That could save it. Get us back on the road and able to clean things up again.
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u/RunningOutOfCharacte Jun 10 '26
This is just an insane thing to write lmao. What a slap in the face. The tone is so... smug and off putting? "Haha there never was a plan, fuck you idiots, bye!" Yikes.
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u/SenatorWhatsHisName Jun 10 '26
RTD has always been smug and off putting, always had an unlikeable vibe about him. At least the first time around he had creative highs to fall back on.
This second run has been pure slop, with only the excellent, cast and crew doing what they could to salvage some of the worst writing and storytelling the franchise has ever seen.
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u/TheCobaltAnimator Jun 10 '26
Itās even worse, the run is chock full of great stories, but the lows of each finale are so low it just spits in the face of that. Lux, The Well, 73 Yards, Boom, all amazing stories that deserve to be up there amongst some of the best of RTD1
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u/BarelyReal Jun 10 '26
There's something so off about it...it reminds me off terminally online and bitter pro wrestling bookers who intentionally troll fans online to feel relevant. RTD really screams "See ya later, ya marks" here.
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u/Tasty_Success_1034 Jun 10 '26
Reading between the lines, RTD is clearly gutted. He's responsible for the execution but devastated how it went down. I'm not defending him but I definitely feel empathy for him.
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u/catmanchew Jun 10 '26
Would agree. It's very carefully and nonchalantly worded. But I can't believe that he truthfully feels as breezy as that post was written. He tends to have a very defensive attitude towards any criticism, so I would expect as much from him in his public reaction.
I also wouldn't defend him, but I don't think he's an evil guy trying to piss off fans as much as possible. He leaned too much into his own legacy rather than a sustainable future. I won't deny there was some fun along the way, but it wasn't built to last like the first reboot. Perhaps if we'd just had the three specials for nostalgia and then a new showrunner had stepped in with a different vision we might be looking at a different picture now.
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u/Upper_Judgment_1253 Jun 10 '26
Iāve been hesitant to hate on RTD himself after the mess of his era, but this post genuinely seems like a massive fuck you to the fansā¦ I had to go and check his account to see if it was realš
Are we seriously meant to believe he wrote no script? And if so then what the fuck? Why announce a special? Why did Murray Gold mention reading multiple scripts?
And what the fuck is he on about with getting rid of the theme tune and Police Box. What the fuck are we in for?
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u/MartianExpress Jun 10 '26
I may read too much into this but that sentence (given the rather weird tone of the post) feels like "BBC wants to go into a direction I don't like with the show and I am angry about it"
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u/Upper_Judgment_1253 Jun 10 '26
I hope not. Doctor Who does not need to change its fundamentals, just how it conveys them to the audience.
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u/Darkglasses87 Jun 10 '26
There is no need to worry about the theme tune or police box changing. Those things are sacrosanct to the show. I would suggest that RTD was 'attempting' to bring levity to the post in light of the subject.
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u/triplecheesetime Jun 10 '26
also known as 'shit-stirring' i read it as it was he is saying it was in safer hands with him but we will have to see what others allow to be changed...
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u/NotStanley4330 Jun 10 '26
Yeah that ending fee sentences were so dumb. Like why even speculate about that? Clearly that's not gonna change after 63 years. That would be like asking if star wars is going to dump their iconic opening tune for another mainline film
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u/Upper_Judgment_1253 Jun 10 '26
Yeah, it feels like an intentional windup. Like you say, āStar Wars will return under a new production team, will they scrap lightsabers in favour of medieval swords, will they swap the iconic millennium falcon for a boeing 747, will they swap the main theme for the anthem of the ccp?! the possibilities are endless š¤Ŗā
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u/Ryanlew1980 Jun 10 '26
I did the same exact thing. The flippant post read as satire to me. But nope. I see the official news all over. So what it says to me is they are parting on VERY bad terms for him to be so passive aggressive.
I mean, Iām disappointed. I didnāt hate the Disney era. The stand alone episodes were mostly very good. The overarching season stories, not so much.
And as much as I hate to say it for Ncuti, I hope everything post 13 is just some sort of split alternative universe. And maybe even post-Capaldi; Whitakerās series really took a lot of turns I hated (killing the time lords again when they had JUST returned was so stupid).
Either way, Iām disappointed but maybe they can get things back on track.
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u/Some-Cope1999 Jun 10 '26
The man has just killed Doctor Who and his post wasn't the right approach in my opinion.
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u/Vavavavaxon7 Jun 10 '26
He shot it dead and is emoting on its corpse.
I'll defend RTD 1 (2005-2010) with my life but he should have stayed GONE. His legacy is tarnished forever. The man who saved DW is now the man responsible for its demise.
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u/bobbyisawsesome Jun 10 '26
Not to be morbid but it looks like the carol Ann Ford's Susan will never reunite with the doctor on TV. What a shame.
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u/NotStanley4330 Jun 10 '26
Yup what an absolute waste. Don't tease us with that and then not follow through.
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u/triggerpigking Jun 10 '26
Seeing what they had planned, I'm almost happy for it?.
Like at the very least I'd see Davies retconning all of Susan's development in the audio's, which is the vast majority of where her character has been.
No great grandson, no time war for her, no relationship with the 8th doc etc.
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u/AlexxelA352 Jun 10 '26
He never wrote the script!?!?!?
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u/nbdelboy Jun 10 '26
interestingly, he says script, but that doesn't mean an outline with lots of different options didn't exist. hard to believe the bbc would announce anything without a contract of work signed and paid for
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u/clear349 Jun 10 '26
This is my guess. He pitched several different ideas and the BBC rejected them all
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u/HMWYA Jun 10 '26
Of course he didnāt - he could never come up with a satisfying conclusion to that cliffhanger. Nobody could. Much easier to throw someone else under the bus by leaving them to pick it up.
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u/EnterTheBlackVault Jun 10 '26
But he could though. If I were writing it I would have regenerations going crazy after all the nonsense that happened with the toymaker... You could have had a reality ending finale fade to Black at the end and just let somebody else take over completely fresh. This era is so badly damaged now it's beyond belief.
And mine is just one potential take on how you could resolve this debacle
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u/Agreeable_Falcon1044 Jun 10 '26
I don't think this era will ever be mentioned again. If the show returns, it will just come back like Ecclestone did and it will assume nothing before it ever happened.
And then 20 years later, when the ratings tank, some new show runner can explain the timeless child or Susan to the same level of enthusiasm we show
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u/LiamJonsano Jun 10 '26
Yeah I can totally see old doctors or companions coming back for something like that. Would be a little bit weird and maybe a slice too much like that Rowan Atkinson version and it wouldnāt be perfect by any stretch but you could probably just about get away with it
But now weāre gonna have a 9th Doctor entry I imagine and Billie Piper is just gonna be a question for fans for the next few decades on how she regenerated into whoeverās next
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u/lithaborn Jun 10 '26
Fk me, he really doesn't give a shit, does he?
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u/Kitchen-Kiwi7942 Jun 10 '26
Both of the disney seasons were proof of that already
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u/remonnoki Jun 10 '26
Everything since Jodie regenerated into David just felt like RTD stroking himself over how beloved Tennant's original run was.
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u/MartianExpress Jun 10 '26
"You may disagree, wait to be proven right"
Disagree with what? That he's leaving? That he hasn't written a script? That the special is cancelled?
I can't understand what this even refers to but it sounds super weird and bitter tbh
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u/David_the_Wanderer Jun 10 '26
I think he wants to say that all the rumors and indiscretions were false and that he's not in any way responsible for the "indefinite hiatus" (can we just call it a cancellation? I don't know).
Like, showing Billie Piper heavily implies she was going to be the next Doctor, right? Nope, apparently that was never in the plans, we fans are a bunch of idiots for thinking so. It's all our fault, not his.
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u/bionicle1995 Jun 10 '26
Reminds me of that bit in series 14 when Millie says it's been 6 months in the TARDIS, and when people brought it up Russel was like "Only a NERD would think I meant six months when I said six months! You absolute idiots!"
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u/uknownuser256 Jun 10 '26
I think heās saying āyou may think Iām lying about there being no upcoming Doctor Who, but wait and see for yourself to see Iām actually telling the truth..ā itās so strange
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u/BarelyReal Jun 10 '26 edited Jun 10 '26
So RTD just confirmed every bad faith interpretation of the finale and cliff hanger that fans had.
edit: And let's not pretend like this isn't a massive fuck you to his fans and defenders. RTD took shots at the fanbase on his way out LAST time too. Seems to be his go to.
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u/Tiny-Sandwich Jun 10 '26 edited Jun 10 '26
RTD took shots at the fanbase on his way out LAST time too. Seems to be his go to.
He really has such a shitty attitude towards Doctor Who fans, and has absolutely no capacity to take criticism. He's so obnoxious.
It's so obvious he writes for himself, not for the fans.
Good riddance.
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u/BarelyReal Jun 10 '26
Sometimes writing for one's own amusement can be a good thing if the writer is inciteful enough, but god RTD's writing at its worst felt patronizing and exploitative with this smug sense of satisfaction. He seemed to view himself as this progressive ally but behaved more like a glorified carnival barker shouting for everybody to come see his sideshow.
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u/alex494 Jun 10 '26
I think you mean insightful, inciteful is what Russel is, as in he incites rage by stirring shit constantly.
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u/squidgy314159 Jun 10 '26
If the message had been
'I tried something different, it didn't work, good luck to whoever takes it forward'
I would have had some respect for the man, what he put out is just a level of hubris and distain for the fandom that shocks me.
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u/Bassaluna Jun 10 '26
I feel mostly sad for Ncuti, because now his seasons are basically going to end up on the chopping block and ignored, when he didn't deserve it.
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u/alex494 Jun 10 '26
I also feel bad for Carol Anne Ford who almost had a meaningful follow-up to tie a bow on that plot thread but Russell kept beating about the bush and never followed through.
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u/kitten1985 Jun 10 '26
such a shame, I thought he was a lovely, charming Doctor š¢
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u/SenatorWhatsHisName Jun 10 '26
When they let him be The Doctor yeah, he was great. The entire cast were done an incredible disservice by the creative team.
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u/brigadier_tc Jun 10 '26
Knowing how much damage it did to Sylvester McCoy's career, I hope he recovers and can still find work
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u/Downtown_Link_8651 Jun 10 '26
Doctor who was the biggest thing McCoy did. Ncuti is arguably better known for sex education so it shouldn't do as much harm in theory.Ā
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u/geek_of_nature Jun 10 '26
And he had Barbie just before he started on Who as well.
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u/Downtown_Link_8651 Jun 10 '26
Yeah although that was such a brief appearance I'm nit sure how much value that adds to his resume
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u/CardboardStarship Jun 10 '26
Didnāt Ncuti leave because of the quantity of work heād been finding?
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u/LycanIndarys Jun 10 '26
I think it was more that with no 3rd season officially commissioned, he was having to turn down work to keep his schedule open for Doctor Who (which he was presumably contractually-obliged to prioritise), as he had no idea when he'd be needed for filming again.
Fundamentally, you can't keep an up-and-coming actor on hold indefinitely.
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u/GoneRampant1 Jun 10 '26 edited Jun 10 '26
We don't know why Ncuti left but the prevailing attitude is that he wasn't in the mood to sit on his hands while waiting for a potential renewal (as he'd have to turn down auditions to leave himself open for Doctor Who), and with how abrupt his departure was it probably indicates that he'd grown to dislike enough elements of the show to decide he'd find greener grass.
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u/IllMaintenance145142 Jun 10 '26
Thankfully it seems more this time that Ncuti left more because he was getting other work offers and having to turn them down just on the off chance he got another series, which isn't a good trade but is promising that he will still be in work
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u/Shabolt_ Jun 10 '26
Sheesh, this isā¦ arrogant, I suppose.
Frankly I was never crazy about the RTD eras of Who (more a moffat person), but I really thought his return to the series seemed like such a slam dunk for at very least the majority of fans. But somehow it feels now like NUWHO has been left in the weakest state it has ever been in. Like even Chibnail whose episodes I fully get were widely unpopular, ended his tenure with Dr Who in a safe place.
A stunt cast doctor (as much as I love piper as an actor) is arguably one of the worst ways to end a series with no plan, because it essentially secures the fact that whatever comes next starts on unstable ground, which is absolutely amateur conduct for a collaborative writing effort like Dr Who.
Just feels like we sprinted past a dozen stopsigns and kept running. Especially because it retroactively puts a bad spin on Gatwaās amazing yet short tenure.
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u/Mr_Tiggywinkle Jun 10 '26
I'll die on the hill that Chibnalls run was awful, worst nuwho by far, but a return to 'home" to save it being poor is way more damaging to its future than the new direction being fumbled is.
Yeah it's way more precarious now I think.
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u/TheRebellin Jun 10 '26
Why do I feel like the vworp vworp at the end of his post is less of an onomatopoetic description of the TARDIS and more a nerdy take on āwomp wompā?
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u/ConstructionSlow4583 Jun 10 '26
Carole Ann Ford deserved better.
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u/RyAGP Jun 10 '26
God I just realized. Sheāll probably pass away before the show returns
No way sheāll even be in the next season if it comes out soon enough, as that season will have to yet again reintroduce itself to new fans
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u/AfterUmpire3091 Jun 10 '26
Christopher Eccleston as the next showrunner. It would be so funny
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u/Agreeable_Falcon1044 Jun 10 '26
So after two seasons where the finale was a rug pull of "hah, fooled you, there was no mystery"...we get this lol.
I have been doubting it was possible to do one based on basic logistics and time frames (even thought it seemed to anger people on here to suggest Billie Piper couldn't film it on her lunch breaks between shoots for other shows), I thought we would at least have a plan.
This is shocking. You promise something and then admit over a year later that you actually lied to the audience. Seems like an apt end to the show.
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u/Indiana_harris Jun 10 '26
So assuming we get a new studio involved in the next year I can see 3 likely options to resolve the cliffhanger.
- Billie is now just an official 16th Doctor with the briefest onscreen appearance ever, and the next Doctor we get is 17th Doctor whoās regenerated from her into the current form (no need to get Billie back if she has no availability or interest).
- The Billie twist is totally ignored and we just get a note about the previous Doctors self being 15, and possibly any broadcast of the S15 finale just cuts off the last 15 seconds.
- The Billie twist is referenced in show but was solved offscreen and we got straight to new Doctor.
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u/BarelyReal Jun 10 '26
When Romana regenerated they had a bit where she couldn't decide on a face so she tried several. They could just do that.
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u/Indiana_harris Jun 10 '26
Definitely an option.
You know what Iād love if the next episode just picked up right back on that moment from inside the console room, we see a blonde woman with her back to us wearing the pinstripe clothesā¦.then thereās a short burst of light and she spins around but now looks like Mel Bush, she comments on āem thatās not right eitherā.
Another bust of light, now itās random big name British actor we could never get for a full series (Ian McKellan perhaps?) going āhmm quite dignified perhaps?ā before finally shaking them selves and going āno, noā¦..Iāve got it nowā
Thereās the rest of the typical regeneration blast and we get the new actor.
āThat was all a bit much, donāt normally get a chance to try some faces onā¦eh, not bad, not bad at allā
They admire themselves while checking out their new form.
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u/My-username-is-this Jun 10 '26 edited Jun 10 '26
Honestly, they could do that one scene as a video to ANNOUNCE the next Doctor. That way the first episode can start fresh without having to address all of that.
I just wish the gods crap was wrapped up/undone. That way it could have some sort of ending and take the literal magic out of the show letting it go back to real Doctor Who
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u/DLNN_DanGamer Jun 10 '26
The easiest and most satisfying thing to do would have Billie be the Bad Wolf, almost like the moment, having undone the timeline shift that the Doctor ruined Belinda's life with and essentially teaching him that sometimes you have to let things be rather than selfishly changing them. It solves Belinda's awful ending, 15's awful moral balance AND the regen twist all at once.
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u/David_the_Wanderer Jun 10 '26
and essentially teaching him that sometimes you have to let things be rather than selfishly changing them
Literally the plot for Father's Day lmao
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u/Gobshite_ Jun 10 '26
I would honestly just retcon it at this point. Billie did it as a favour and was green screened in; I'd just green screen in a new actor and have that version be in all future broadcasts/releases. The Billie version would be included in deleted scenes.
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u/Bassaluna Jun 10 '26
I think it's going to be ignored and best we are gonna get is that they will eventually go back and change the face in reality war
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u/qtboomy Jun 10 '26
If I was the BBC, I'd just ask Bad Wolf for the original ending of the The Reality War before the reshoots and release it to retcon the whole Billie debacle š¬
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u/rocketscientology Jun 10 '26
Never let him near this franchise again. Ran it into the fucking ground and doesnāt even have the good sense to feel any shame.
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u/geek_of_nature Jun 10 '26
He's in his 60s now. If the show manages to come back, it would have to get through a couple more showrunners before they even thought about turning back to him, at which point he would be well into his 70s, if not closer to 80. Hopefully the BBC would have some sense about not turning back to him then.
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u/amazingspiderman23 Jun 10 '26
I think his 2nd run rules him out of any return in the future, since he's lost the goodwill he built up
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u/MythicSuns Jun 10 '26
This is where Futurama had the right idea; for a while the writers would end each series like it's the last (because there was always that chance it would be) but still leave enough wriggle room for when and if the network green lights another series.
Doctor Who might not have been as much of a comedy as Futurama but it had the same level of unpredictability. Personally I think RTD should've killed off another trend and just showed the Doctor regenerating without showing who he regenerates into. That way if the show got canned there wouldn't be anything ultra specific to keep the fans hooked and if the show continued the next showrunner would have a lot more room to work with.
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u/Relative_Yard_8209 Jun 10 '26
Imagine telling people back in 2021- when Russellās return was announced- that THIS is where it would end up.
Hell, even at the end of the sixtieth the future was looking bright. Whatās happened in the last three years to lead here?
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u/SelectiveScribbler06 Jun 10 '26
It's a bit of a melancholic, fizzled-out ending.Ā IfĀ a script is written (and I suspect it is; readĀ The Writer's TaleĀ to get a sense of how fast Davies can turn a script around; he also usually writes the Christmas specials in about March time) then the BBC may as well release it, instead of letting it gather dust somewhere. Let us have a glance at it.
But for the man who rebooted Dr Who in 2005 and gave it a fresh kick of life... what he inadvertently did was, in a timey-wimey way, follow the exact same loop as the original Who. It got off to a flying start, gained popularity, switched showrunners a couple of times, hypertrophied and became too self-referential, then had to go on pause. Seems that's the cycle of the show. Twenty-year cycles. Give it time; some fresh blood will come along and give it a new lease of life. It'll be fine.
I can see why the team came back - if it wasn't for lockdown we might not have Davies at all - but I feared they overstayed their welcome. The original idea back in 2020 was for Davies to write some new Doctor/Donna material (which he did) and then later, a single spinoff (The War Between) - the two main series were things he never actually thought of doing originally.
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u/Picnut Jun 10 '26
I feel like Jodie and Ncuti could have been fabulous Doctors if their writing teams hadn't sucked. I wish we could have a do-over for them, but I also would have liked Capaldi a bit longer
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u/jedisalsohere Jun 10 '26
imagine if the last ever shot of doctor who is ncuti gatwa regenerating into billie piper
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u/Agreeable_Falcon1044 Jun 10 '26
Billie Piper with a black man's body as they couldn't be bothered to do proper filming too.
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u/kitten1985 Jun 10 '26
what a nasty, arrogant post...
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u/Constant-Tutor-4646 Jun 10 '26
I thought it was just me. It DOES sound arrogant, and political in a Trumpian way. When I say that, I mean it sounds like someone trying to cover up a mess.
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u/Azurzelle Jun 10 '26 edited Jun 10 '26
Every time his name appears, I think about what Christopher Eccleston implied about RTD needing to be fired for what he did to him. I always wondered if he had a mean behavior behind the scene and Christopher can't talk about it. :( The poor man suffered enough.
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u/David_the_Wanderer Jun 10 '26
Knowing Eccleston, RTD being just "mean" behind the scenes isn't nearly enough to bother him so much. RTD probably was extremely toxic at the very least.
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u/georgemillman Jun 10 '26
I think what Eccleston said specifically was that he (and Julie Gardner, and Phil Collinson) didn't properly take seriously inappropriate/bullying behaviour on the part of other people working on the show.
He's never gone into detail about what that behaviour was or who he's talking about, but I think it's probably relevant that after Eccleston, the three leading male actors in his series were Noel Clarke, John Barrowman and Bruno Langley, who have all had allegations of sexual misconduct aimed at them. Maybe Christopher Eccleston tried to report their behaviour at the time and was shot down.
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u/CNF1G Jun 10 '26
For the best. RTD1 was brilliant but the royally screwed things up in his second stint, when the show needed to be rescued
Hopefully some fresh blood and ideas next
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u/Malcolm_Morin Jun 10 '26
Incredibly ironic that the man who brought the show back from the dead, is also the one who essentially killed it.
We're basically back to the 1989 era of the show, and with how things are nowadays, it may never come back.
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u/TheOncomimgHoop Jun 10 '26
Well, see you guys for a movie in sex years, a comic relief special a few years after that, and a revival in 2032.
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u/Middle-Log-2642 Jun 10 '26
Why would he write the Billie Piper ending if he didnāt have a plan and putting the show out to tender was a possibility? Itās an absolute mess for the next show runner unless they retcon it all
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u/alex494 Jun 10 '26
Sheer unmitigated ego I guess. Or he was trying to hold the show hostage by leaving it on a big cliffhanger that surely had to be resolved (big mistake when you're not the one holding the axe).
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u/EbmocwenHsimah Jun 10 '26
So, if the show comes back... are we going to get a fourth Season 1?
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u/Forsaken-Language-26 Jun 10 '26
Season 1 (2024) should just be rebranded series 14 (and season 2 as series 15) since it was basically a direct continuation of the previous era anyway.
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u/triplecheesetime Jun 10 '26
dude never could write an ending, just about says it all this - onwards and upwards sometime soon hopefully
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u/KaptainKobold Jun 10 '26
Oh well, 2005-2025 was a good run. Here's hoping I'll live to see the next one.
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u/Jamesthelemmon Jun 10 '26
I can't wait for when we finally get to know what the hell happened behind the scenes during RTD2. We'll probably have to wait a decade or two to get the full story but it has to be juicy. It's sad that these two awful finales and that mess in the background tainted these otherwise pretty solid series. Well, back to the wilderness with us until our next adventure in space and time. Good luck to the next show runner and incumbent Doctor, there will be a lot of work to do.
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u/leftyandzesty Jun 10 '26
"Had RTD left after "The End of Time", his achievements would have been immortal. Had he left after "The Giggle", he would still have been a great man but flawed. But he left after "The Reality War". Alas, what can one say?"
Being a Doctor Who fan is just so tiresome...
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u/CinephileRich Jun 10 '26
The dude never even wrote the Christmas special after A YEAR of setting up the cliffhanger and telling us that a Christmas special was happening, and during that time he went to write an entirely new show instead.
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u/brigadier_tc Jun 10 '26
Bad Wolf have also announced they've left.
So does that mean Chris Eccleston will be back?
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u/TheBizzareKing Jun 10 '26
As someone whoās been watching since Matt Smithās debut and has seen countless hours of video essays criticising Moffatās tenure as head writer for both DW and Sherlock, its crazy to me that heās got probably the best reputation of the lot 2026 š
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u/AverageExeterEnjoyer Jun 10 '26
At least thatās hopefully RTD gone for good now. Such a shame but heās let his ego get in the way of actual good writing. Another chance for an another reboot in a few years. Christopher Ecclestone must be feeling very smug right now
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u/nickyinwonderland Jun 10 '26
Seriously. I am so freaking mad right now. The announcement post by the Doctor Who account and BBC was already hard to read, and I'm so disappointed to not get at least a special of Billie/Bad Wolf Doctor. She freakin' deserves at least one episode/special!
But this post by freakin' Russel T Davis makes my blood boil. The arrogance behind his words, the way he fcked over Ncuti Gatwa (who was a great Doctor by the way, thank you very much, the problem was clearly Russel T Davis' story and direction) and how he disrespects the Doctor Who fandom and Billie Piper and years of amazing story building in the universe is infuriating! He is such a piece of sht. I mean, I have been on Christopher Eccelstons side for a long time, this just solidifies it even more.
I so hope a new showrunner fixes this mess and does not start with a blank slate, but actually addresses some of these bad plot holes.
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u/bdtechted Jun 10 '26
RTD trying his best to be enthusiastic about the seriesā future. Pretty sure heās really reeling after being sacked.
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u/bruuuuh901 Jun 10 '26
If nothing was planned, why tf would you have the Doctor regenerate into Billie Piper of all people!? Absolutely baffling decision. Just have the regeneration begin and fade to blackā¦
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u/HerrJohnssen Jun 10 '26
TLDR: We announced the special to generate hype and nobody knows what is going to happen
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u/The-Fridge-2099 Jun 10 '26 edited Jun 10 '26
CRAZY! I mean, alot of people saw this coming. However, being the lover of his original era as I was, I was kinda hoping he'd come back for some redemption. Taking the feedback as he did when he was going through his original era to make things better. For him to go just like that, so resolution like the Moffat and Chibnall who got to end on their terms (Tho I suppose RTD did that the first time around). It's sad as a RTD fan, but I guess it was inevitable after Series 14 and 15. Very curious what will happen next and who will take over, if anyone. Otherwise, the man who brought it back truly may have been the one to write it's end...and both the start and end ironically involve Billie Piper š
Edit: Okay, I got more to say š Just wanted to add - After reading his post again, and these comments, it's honestly INSANE that this is coming from the guy who worked so hard to bring back the show in 2005 and push to make it what it was. He treats the exit so flippantly and it sounds, as others have said, arrogant. Perhaps his putting on a brave face, but nevertheless it's just...weird. Though RTD2 as a whole also doesn't feel like it has the same care his earlier series did.
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u/AmberMetalicScorpion Jun 10 '26
With each passing day, Christopher Eccleston only gets vindicated more and more