10 Things RTD's Return WON'T Bring To Doctor Who
1. 14 Episodes a Year
BBC funding has been frozen and the television landscape has changed considerably in the 12 years since Russell first left. It's not feasible for a show like Doctor Who to churn out thirteen episodes and a Christmas special every year. Especially if you want it to compete in a crowded sci-fi marketplace. The budgets just won't stretch that far.
The fact that the show is now a co-production with Bad Wolf may help with the budgetary issues, but it still doesn't seem like a feasible option to essentially make fourteen feature films a year. So what's the alternative? The answer may lie in Jodie Whittaker's troubled final series. Presumably Flux and the subsequent specials were originally envisioned as a ten part series but due to COVID, lockdowns and other obstacles, it was restructured.
This model of a six-part miniseries followed by three specials, then rinse and repeat might be the best way forward for the series. It can ensure that the effects work can finally match the ambition of the scripts, we saw proof of that in Flux. By turning Doctor Who into an "event" series it can reflect the model of similar shows and hopefully reinvigorate itself for a new audience.