Doctor Who Producer Praises Russell T Davies For His “Best-Ever Work”

As Russell T Davies ushers in a new era of Doctor Who, a co-founder of Bad Wolf Productions, Julie Gardner, says he has written “amongst his best-ever work” for the upcoming fourteenth series, starring Ncuti-Gatwa and Millie Gibson. In an interview with Doctor Who Magazine Special 63 (via a story from Cultbox), Gardner was asked about concerns facing Doctor Who’s production values reflected in high-budget Marvel and Disney+ projects.

“There’s only one worry on Doctor Who: that production delivers on the extraordinary quality of Russell’s writing,” Gardner said. “He’s writing amongst his best-ever work. The scripts are big and extremely ambitious. The only worry I ever have is that we get it right for him. We run to keep up.”

She described Davies, who returns as Doctor Who showrunner, as “the beating heart of the creative offering that is Doctor Who. It’s his vision on screen, which starts in his ideas for episodes. He writes the majority of scripts and talks with the script team about who and when additional writers come in.”

Ncuti Gatwa - The Fifteenth Doctor.
Ncuti Gatwa – The Fifteenth Doctor. (Pic: BBC/James Pardon).

She explained that his creativity affects “the budget, and vice versa, so he’s across the headlines of budgets and the dynamics of what happens on any day in the shoot. He’s on every single casting email, and his voice is always the most important in the mix.”

Gardner, who founded Bad Wolf Productions in 2015 with Jane Tranter, a company behind productions including The Night of and His Dark Materials, said she was “happiest when he’s [Davies] in front of his computer screen, writing. That’s the bit no one else in our [executive producer] group can do.”

Doctor Who is returns in November 2023, with three special episodes scheduled. The series can be found via the BBC iPlayer and Britbox. What are you most excited to see from the future of the series? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

Author
Matt Bailey

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