Will Russell T Davies be the saviour of Doctor Who? With Jodie Whittaker’s stint as the two-hearted Time Lord having come to a close, the BBC is surely hoping so. Her casting came with so much promise, but Whittaker leaves the show with dwindling viewing figures, lost fans and the overarching sense that showrunner Chris Chibnall really did her dirty. So why not bring back Davies, the man responsible for reviving the show in 2005, at a point when Doctor Who desperately needs a reset? Already, it looks like the plan might be working. Davies marked his return during Sunday’s episode with a major surprise. David Tennant would be returning as the Doctor for three episodes before Ncuti Gatwa takes the reins. For the first time in a long while, people are actually talking about the show again.
The more cynical among us may see Davies’ hiring as an attempt to cash in on nostalgia and recapture the show’s former magic. At the peak of the Davies/Tennant era in 2009, more than 10 million viewers were tuning in every week. In comparison, this year’s specials clawed together an average viewership of 2.62 million, with just 3.7 million watching Whittaker’s regeneration. But Davies isn’t a writer stuck in the past, as the international successes of his forward-thinking recent shows Years and Years and It’s A Sin have shown. His ideas are original and have continually started conversations, while his scripts are warm and inclusive without ever feeling preachy. In short, he’s exactly what the show needs right now.
