10 Reasons RTD's Doctor Who Return Failed

3. "Generating Content"

If RTD2 had a gravestone, then "You just hope it will generate content" would be the words inscribed upon it.

The now-infamous clip from Doctor Who Unleashed where he tells Susan Twist that her character was designed to "generate content" has been memed to death in the years since because it sadly became apparent that this genuinely was the main thinking behind a lot of Russell's decisions.

It’s shorthand for the approach his second era took more broadly: trying to create a big social media buzz rather than simply telling a great story with gripping drama and brilliant characters.

This is the reason RTD2 feels so hollow. The fourth wall breaks, the overabundance of mystery boxes and teases, the returning villains, the random musical numbers, Billie Piper, and even major elements like bi-generation and making The Well a Midnight sequel. None of this was done from a thought process of "How can I tell the best story". Rather, the sole desire seemed to be "How can I get the kids talking on the interwebs!"

Ironically, one of the things that did manage to go viral was Mr Ring-a-Ding, who was simply a quirky and bold new creation for Doctor Who (not some attempt to bait headlines or hark back to the show's past).

Game of Thrones didn't need a dance-off between Ned Stark and Joffrey to become the biggest thing in pop-culture – it did that purely off the strength of its writing and characters.

The bottom line is, if you make a great show then people will talk about it. If you just go for viral moments and they flop, you're left with nothing.