creator Russell T. Davies talks to us about his return with David Tennant and Ncuti Gatwa

How come you came back to Doctor Who?Because I love him! I never stopped watching it and thinking of stories. I almost came across the BBC by chance. They didn’t think I wanted to come back. It was a lucky accident where the conversation got out of hand. I wasn’t looking for it to happen, but I felt like I had things to say and that there were places to take the Doctor. I didn’t know then that I would be working with Ncuti and Millie, but add that to the mix and… I’m very happy.

Lets start by the beginning. Where does the idea of ​​the bi-generation that we saw in the Christmas specials come from? Why did you decide to bring David Tennant back?It was the 60th anniversary, we needed something new, something to celebrate, simple as that. It’s something that hasn’t been done before, and letting Ncuti Gatwa, the huge new Doctor, arrive in all his glory, running around with no pants on and looking incredible while practically stealing the show from one of the greatest English actors. [David Tennant]…It was a great idea. I love it.

How are you experiencing introducing a new Doctor after so long?I feel like I’m tied to the tail of a comet. I feel very grateful to be able to work with such wonderful people. I can’t think of anyone better: we have seen Ncuti in Sex EducationI don’t have to convince you that it’s absolute magic, and Millie has invaluable camera knowledge.

Sometimes, Doctor Who creates stars, but they already were. We are very lucky that they wanted to do the series and God! That, really, is being very lucky. I thank the stars that they wanted to do this.

With Ncuti we once again see a new personality in the Doctor. How much of it is in the script and how much comes from the actor?The interesting thing about the process is that we never sat down and said, “The Doctor has to be like this.” We could decide what the Doctor was like at a particular moment: “he’s having a moment of clarity, of anger, of doubt”, but that didn’t become a rule. What I often did was that if Ncuti had done a very funny scene, I would decide to do another one in which he was super serious, after that, he would do a hilarious comedy. Let’s see if he can improve his comedy skills! Let’s see how he does it! It was a very nice process.

I just talked to him and…Oh! It’s amazing, right?

Yeah! She commented that she was afraid that she was doing it wrong, but that you gave her freedom.I’m in charge of the scripts, he’s in charge of the Doctor. It is impossible for that actor to follow rules. I would hate to write a paragraph describing the Doctor and you know Ncuti, it is impossible for that actor to wear a corset, wear the same clothes and say the same thing every day. I think the series is called Doctor Who and it’s about the Doctor so, in the end, the energy comes from him. The series is better when I’m trying to keep up with him.

What can we expect from this new season? Will we see former enemies of the Doctor? New?It’s a new Doctor, a new era and, I hope, a new audience. The emphasis is on new enemies and monsters. There is newness in the air! Although I’m also a fan of the original series, so there is some nod to 1980 that I think old fans will enjoy.

I think it’s nice that if you look Harry PotterFor example, one of the things that JK Rowling did quickly was create a history of Quidditch, because fans like to go back, to the archives, to the internet, and investigate. With this series, I like being able to say: “Did that thing they said seem funny to you? Well, the phrase first appeared in 1966!” So there is a little bit of everything for everyone…

Know? Bonnie Langford played a character named Mel in 1987 and is returning for this season. We are going to see her in the present meeting Ncuti and, if they want, young people can go back, watch the episodes from then and see her with her original Doctor. I think it’s an adorable idea.

Doctor Who It is a series of overflowing imagination and creativity. Are there any alien species in the history of Doctor Who Which are you especially a fan of?Oh well! Obviously, I love the Weeping Angels, invented by my friend Steven Moffat. As he says, he gave away an idea that could have been sold as a movie franchise. But, to be honest, no one could have done it better.

As for the Doctor Who original, I’m a fan of the Daleks, of course, although they won’t appear this season. My predecessor had a tradition of doing an episode about them every Christmas. I think it’s adorable, but we’ve seen too much of them recently. I’ll come back to them at some point, but not for now.

What species do you like to write about the most?I love creating aliens based on animals and it’s something I’ve done a lot. I’ve done hippos and rhinos and, this season, we have birds. We had never done anything like this. There are some humans with bird faces that I really want you to meet.

Doctor Who It is a science fiction series, but it also has period episodes, it is for adults, it is for children… What is it? Doctor Who for you?It’s love, really. I love this serie. He has been my support for much of my life. I loved it as a child and I love it as an adult. I have been lucky to work with wonderful people. It’s very emotional.

It’s also a lot of work. It occupies me 24 hours a day. There’s no job that’s that busy unless you let him do it, and I let him do it because I think it’s worth it. I think you need all that energy; it needs to stay inventive, charming, funny, crazy and scary. The series and I are stuck in a perfect loop.