10 Simple Fixes For Doctor Who's Future
2. Ten Episode Seasons
Something that affected the development of the Doctor and Ruby's relationship was Season 1's short runtime.
Doctor Who used to have 12 or 13 episodes per series, which is unrealistic in this day and age, granted. Chris Chibnall cut down from 12 episodes to ten, but those episodes were at least 50 minutes long, and in some cases closer to 60 minutes.
Season 1 on the other hand? That was cut down to just eight episodes, with runtimes hovering around the 45 minute mark. But with other major shows like The Boys and The Rings of Power delivering chunky 60 or 70 minute episodes, is it really too much to ask for Doctor Who to have hour-long episodes? Or stick to the 45-minute length, but give us ten of them?
You have to make the additional runtime count of course, but we saw repeated examples of Season 1 needing an extra scene or two, or more room for certain storylines to breathe.
Dot and Bubble really needed a final scene in the TARDIS, where the Doctor and Ruby discuss the devastating events they just witnessed. Are we to believe they just flew off and never spoke about Finetime again? Of course not – so show us that conversation! Rogue did this brilliantly, with the pair discussing Rogue's sacrifice and how it affects the Doctor.
Similarly, The Legend of Ruby Sunday starts with the Doctor heading to UNIT HQ for seemingly no reason. Where was the scene in the TARDIS where they both discussed the mysterious figure they've spotted across time and space, before coming to the conclusion that UNIT can probably help them?
The whole season was full of little disconnects like this, leading to a slightly rushed overall feel. A longer runtime would also allow for more wind-down time between Doctor and companion, allowing us to actually see them being the "best friends" they claim to be.
Obviously, there are budget and workload considerations to take into account, but if those two extra episodes were two-parters, you only need one set and one cast for two episodes! And with the show filming so far in advance these days, there's definitely enough time to get more minutes filmed.
Interestingly, RTD did say that he has "plans" in relation to these eight-episode seasons, possibly hinting that future seasons could go up to nine, or ten. Season 2 is sticking with eight, so hopefully Season 3 is where we see this change implemented.