10 Ways Modern Doctor Who Changed The Show Forever

The structure of modern Doctor Who owes a huge debt to the cult American network shows of the 1990s and early 2000s.

In RTD's original pitch document for the 2005 revival, he draws direct links with US television, and how they structure their shows around "sweeps week", the period in which networks pull out all the stops in an effort to boost advertising rates. He explained:

"13 episodes should be divided into 7 single-episode stories, and 3 two-part stories. The two-parters should earn their size like American sweeps episodes. And the stories should be strong. Well, obviously."

This combination of monster-of-the-week and big event episodes had defined US television for decades. Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The X-Files, and countless other influential US shows adopted this approach – and Buffy was even mentioned by Russell in his original pitch, as one of the shows he was inspired by!

This was a far pacier approach to telling Doctor Who stories than we'd had in the classic era, which would've dedicated four, sometimes even ten weeks to telling a single story. By adopting that American, quippy, fast-paced, 45-minute model for Doctor Who, RTD ensured a crossover appeal that fostered a bigger US audience than the show had enjoyed previously.

And no doubt this was a big reason the modern series has stuck around for 20-plus years.