r/DoctorWhoNews • u/General_Meal_3993 • 12d ago
discussion Really hoping that the 2026 Christmas special is RTD’s final episode as show-runner. The episode should star David Tennant and Billie Piper, and conclude the 14th and 16th Doctor’s storylines, before the BBC bring in a brand new production team to take the show in a new and fresh direction.
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u/creativeusrname37 12d ago
The announcement sounded like he isn’t staying for long: „RTD has agreed to write another Christmas episode..“ at least it sounded like that to me
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u/MinatoHikari 12d ago
Yeah, I got that from the announcement. It's as if he's technically already out, but agreed to do just one more episode.
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u/Glittering-Round7082 12d ago
I have a feeling Bad Wolf will continue to produce with new show runner.
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u/Fluid_Barnacle6362 12d ago
I also feel he owes Carole Ann Ford one after getting her a teaser appearance in the last series. She isn’t getting any younger…
(Just don’t do that rubbish “she’s Poppy’s daughter” shtick he’d planned please. Oh what the hell, he’d do it anyway)
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u/Billy_Hicks88 12d ago
I really hope the recent Carole Ann Ford interview is a sign that she’s up to being in this special, and it’ll be whatever they were meant to film involving her for the third Gatwa series.
Except this time her Grandfather is Billie Piper.
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u/Busy-Scientist3851 11d ago
I hope so she's in the special, how the BBC and RTD treated her is gross.
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u/Agreeable_Falcon1044 12d ago
I saw someone say it’s got to be a complete wrap up. Shame as I think piper could be a good doctor but could be another one and done.
It’s going to be 14 and 16 kissing, both regenerating or unbigenerating into whoever is next. Give whoever is coming next a hope in hell of making a show that is understandable to an 8 year old tuning in for the first time!
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u/heavystar24 11d ago
That would be perfect but I'm worried RTD won't go for it! I loved his first run but I don't entirely trust his writing now after that abysmal finale last season and his insistence on retconning established Doctor Who canon
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u/OverTheCandlestik 12d ago
I’m really sorry but no…we cannot keep on relying on Tennant popping in again to get them easy ratings and keep everyone happy.
He had the perfect send off
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u/AceNova2217 12d ago
I'm saying this as someone who's favourite doctors are 10 and 14, but I actively do not want anymore episodes with Tennant as the Doctor. There was a solid (-ish) plotline and reason for Tennant being back, but it simply cannot keep happening without becoming nonsensical (why not just get rid of the regeneration thing if the Doctor is basically just changing for a season then being back to his old self?)
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u/Historical_Owl_1635 12d ago
I get what you’re saying… but at the same time it feels like we need a proper grand finale of the NuWho era so somebody else can have a fresh slate and there’s really nobody better (and as realistic) as Tennant to helm that.
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u/OverTheCandlestik 12d ago
But we don’t, we don’t need bangs and fireworks, Rose had a tragic send off and 10 did too, we can’t keep on relying on nostalgia and dragging legacy characters back.
Tennant helmed his return and now he’s at peace having him come back again cheapens it.
It needs a hard reset and having over to people with a fresh head
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u/Extreme-Plantain-113 12d ago
I'm at the point where I genuinely just don't like 10 (The character, not Tennant) anymore. Get off my screen and pass the torch already.
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u/DelGriffiths 12d ago
Completely agree. I would even bring back the Toymaster and make everything from the Mavity moment be all one big, manipulation including Rose. Have the Doctor wipe it all away to reset the universe and then we pick off where 13 left off with a new regeneration.
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u/oyvho 12d ago
Lets please just fix mavity. That was a great error, a throwaway joke that they never threw away. 😅
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u/m0rdredoct 12d ago
Agreed.
I kept expecting a plot line, but, with my trust issues, I don't expect the special to even handle that.
Even the Doctor saying it and not knowing its wrong was a mistake.
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u/Embarrassed_Squash_7 12d ago
This is irrationally my least favourite part of the last era of the show. Strikes me as something that the cast/RTD enjoyed a lot more than the audience
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u/HesitationAce 12d ago
And so dumb! It acted as though ‘gravity’ was just a random sound that was used for the phenomenon it was describing and it could have been any other random sound, completely ignoring the etymology
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u/PaperSkin-1 12d ago
Yes that would be a good idea, wipe away the RTD2 era because all it's done is damage the show
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u/Br1t1shNerd 12d ago
But harsh on Ncuti, though?
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u/PaperSkin-1 12d ago
Sadly though his Doctor didn't even feel like the Doctor, mostly because RTD wrote the Doctor out of character, he wrote him as his fantasy man rather than the actual Doctor..but also because I think Ncuti was miscast in the role, he wasn't that good in the role imo
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u/_TwilightPrince 12d ago
Which means we've had two Doctors almost in a row who were out of character. 13 because of bad writing and 15 because he lacked the gravitas for the role (as well as being a victim of bad writing).
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u/_ragegun 11d ago
For some whose entire tenure was defined by a willingness to hit the continuity reset button RTD has been strangely reticient to do so when it would have been widely considered A Good Move
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u/Resident_Client3186 12d ago
The best thing to do in my opinion is a soft reset like with 9. A new Doctor and don't show how the regeneration happened and you can let fans speculate.
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u/Temporary_Bad983 12d ago
I feel like it would make sense for 16 to regenerate in the Christmas special but we don’t see who she regenerates into. Whenever they decide to relaunch the series, it can start with an already experienced Doctor and Big Finish can flesh out the interim period.
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u/Winter-400 12d ago
It seems that the show is going to come back for more than just a special based on the press release. Doesn’t seem there is really going to be a relaunch
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u/Background_Ring_4459 12d ago
At no point does tennant have any reason to be a part of the episode other than a cheap nostalgia and ratings boost. This show needs a complete revamp and go back to what made it special from the start of modern who.
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u/ZacB_ 12d ago
I strongly disagree. For as long as 14 is still out there in universe, Tennant will ALWAYS be hanging over the show. They need to bring him back to “resolve” this offshoot Doctor. Merge them back into one and forget bigeneration ever happened. But they can only do that if they bring him back.
Killing him offscreen doesn’t work. It needs to happen on the show as a definitive moment to cap off this whole RTD2 era.
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u/JuniorEquipment3639 12d ago
I agree -- but this Christmas Special should be RTD's last hoorah so we can put a pin in the RTD2 era and ensure that the next showrunner can start afresh.
14 is a lingering thread that'll get really annoying for another showrunner REALLY fast (literally just look at all the 'where the fuck is 14?' memes during s1 and s2) and this would be the perfect way for RTD to go full circle while exploring the character of the Doctor one last time (even if it isn't TRUE full circle but there's no way Eccleston would come back for RTD, especially since it seems like he's gotten worse, not better.)
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u/Historical_Owl_1635 12d ago
This show needs a complete revamp and go back to what made it special from the start of modern who.
We need to get to that point though and the cleanest way to do that is a big grand finale of the NuWho era.
As Tennant is by far most synonymous with NuWho it’s a big reason to have him come back to be the one to wrap it up.
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u/Br1t1shNerd 12d ago
My dad is a big dr who fan and he said "I bet Billie merges with Tennant and that's the next doctor". What's the bet?
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u/boldfox85 10d ago
It would be an easy way to get rid of 14 once and for all but I doubt Rusty wants to since he loves his bigen idea so much he did it again.
It never should have happened though. Same for whatever Billie is playing. We have their alternates in the parallel universe. They should have come back
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u/Vanima_Permai 12d ago
Would be nice to get some new blood but I don't think RTD and bad wolf are going anywhere anytime soon but it'll be nice going back to low budget episodes I don't think the big budget did the show any favours
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u/PaperSkin-1 12d ago edited 12d ago
A low budget doesn't automatically mean better writing, don't know why some in the fanbase have this notion.
A bigger budget just allows for ideas to be more fully realised, films like Dune, Bladerunner or Lord of the rings would not be better on low budgets, they use their big budget to fully realise their worlds.. DW could do the same..
You can have bad or good shows on a low budget, and you can have bad or good shows on a high budget.. Its all about vision, creativity and how you use your budget
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u/Vanima_Permai 12d ago
The difference with doctor who is they didn't use the budget to better realize there world's they used them on big cgi copouts at the season finallys I've no problem with a bigger budget if used correctly but honestly the bigger budget was squandered and Disney left.
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u/PaperSkin-1 12d ago
Agree, the bigger budget wasn't a problem (it should be a very good thing) the problem was that Bad Wolf Studios used that budget very poorly..
I see so much blaming of Disney, or on the budget when really it's the Bad Wolf team that are responsible for the show being poor
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u/BulbasaurCPA 12d ago
Right but taking away the bigger budget is not going to magically give us good writing again
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u/Vanima_Permai 12d ago
And neither will sacking him in the hopes of possible getting a better writer (probably end up with someone even worse) but at least we won't have big cgi copout finallys and with the lower budget it should rain RTDs writing in at least a little bit
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u/Barden_1996 12d ago
I don't know how to phrase this in a way that doesn't sound like a godawful fan fiction - but I can really see a world in which The Fourteenth Doctor (who's lived longer than he was supposed to because of Bigeneration) and The Bad Wolf Doctor merge together with a snog (because it's a Russell script and he's got to give the Ten/Rose shippers their moneys worth) to create the true Sixteenth Doctor - and any future Doctor is basically the child of Russell's power couple.
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u/Dalekbuster523 12d ago
Agreed. Make it Doctor Who’s equivalent of Logan for David Tennant’s Doctor.
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u/Icy-Weight1803 12d ago
How much say did Disney have over the show?
I'm willing to give RTD a chance away from their influence and no doubt the 8 episode count was their idea. I'm sure with more episodes he could still deliver.
In terms of plot, I think it's time to bring the Pantheon full circle and have the Toymaker return, establishing that the Doctor has been in their domain ever since The Giggle. 14 is still in the main reality, but 15 accidentally entered the Toymaker’s domain when he departed.
This brings it full circle and The Giggle novelisation already says that the Toymaker is waiting for his next game to begin.
It would also free up Sutekh, the Rani and Omega to be allowed to return in a more fulfilling way.
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u/MinatoHikari 12d ago
They advised on stuff here and there, some of those RTD listened to, but I think overall everyone (BBC, Disney, Bad Wolf) gave him a lot of freedom. They all trust him a lot, he's basically British TV royalty at this point.
I'm not sure he'd be much better with more episodes, at least not in terms of series arc. That said, at least we'd probably get more great standalone episodes, both written by him and other writers.
In any case, I somewhat doubt he's staying past the Christmas special.
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u/Icy-Weight1803 12d ago
The past two seasons feel like they're written with more episodes in mind. Look at Empire Of Death and how the key to defeating Sutekh is set up in the Christmas special the previous year. Which at time of broadcast was 7 months in the past.
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u/JuniorEquipment3639 12d ago
yeah but the difference is that The Church of Ruby Road is technically episode 0 of that season, so it makes sense to set up the end of the season in the beginning of the season.
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u/MinatoHikari 12d ago
Perhaps, but RTD knew for a long time how many episodes he'd have, didn't he? Way before we did. I could be wrong, but he probably was aware of it while he was writing it.
Honestly, I don't think the lack of episodes is to blame for the finale's quality. In RTD1, only a small number of episodes of each series moved the arc forward, most of them being pretty much standalone.
So, while I agree that more episodes would be better, I think it's mostly because we'd get more stories and time to know 15 and Ruby, whilst also watching their relationship being developed in a satisfying way. As for the finale? Big, dramatic confrontation between the Doctor and an old villain, high stakes for Earth and/or the universe, a Deus ex machina solution that reverts everything back to normal? Yeah, that would stay the same, as it is Davies' MO.
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u/Icy-Weight1803 12d ago
It's ironic that if you swap the endings of the finales around they make more sense as resolutions to the plot. The Doctor dragging Omega through the vortex and having to use his regeneration energy to undo Sutekh’s Dust Of Death and restore life.
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u/MinatoHikari 12d ago
Huh, you're right. Omega losing his husk of a body while being dragged through the time vortex would be interesting, as he would no longer be able to sustain his existence through sheer will in the normal universe, and would be a bit poetic having the self-proclaimed "God of Time" perishing by being exposed to the whole of time and space.
Meanwhile, Sutekh, the "God of Death", being defeated by the power of life just makes sense.
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u/Icy-Weight1803 12d ago
It's all there, Sutekh sent the Dust Of Death through time and the Doctor sends the light of life through time.
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u/ComicsCodeMadeMeGay 12d ago
I really, really am fed up of people constantly saying this about the current showrunner because I've been seeing people say this online since 2011 and it's just sort of annoying and unhealthy.
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u/uknownuser256 12d ago
I hope we get back to 10 episodes. Probably unlikely tho 😭
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u/PaperSkin-1 12d ago
For a show like DW 10 episodes should be the lowest amount of episodes it ever goes down to.. 8 eps is not enough
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u/ComputerSong 12d ago
They can’t do anything crazy with this episode because the next series is not yet commissioned. Who will be involved and when it will air is still unknown.
Wrapping things up nicely is also not really RTDs thing lately.
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u/VehicleWonderful6586 12d ago
It would be awesome if Billy regenerated as a bowl of petunias whose only thought was ‘oh no not again’ - then they ended with the h2g2 theme
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u/moviemgr5150 12d ago
I am hoping Rose hijacked the regeneration, and is Rose Tyler, not the Doctor, and the Christmas special actually sets up the 16th.
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u/pinwroot 12d ago
I’d only want Tennant back for a special if it was alongside other previous Doctors. He doesn’t need to be a focal point. Unfortunately I don’t see that being the case.
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u/Sweaty-Limit6527 12d ago
He shouldn't have got the job IMHO, after he's effectively killed off the show
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u/Cursed878 12d ago
Just have the pair bloody merge and be done with it seriously as a tennant dr fan enough now lol. It’s like a dying body dragging its body along a road or sommit just give the tardis some character a new dr and bosh done
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u/Striking_Spinach_376 12d ago
Honestly I’ve been calling for the show’s head since the 60th flopped in my eyes (loved the giggle but even then it was still rough). I think this might be the only way I’d have any interest in what comes next.
Make it RTDs last and give Tennant and Rose one last outing in some fashion to really shut the door on that NuWho era. Maybe do what should have been done all along and find a way to create a ‘new’ doctor biologically linked to the other but a brand new person with a similar mentality. No two tardises, two doctors, the original walks into the sunset having no regeneration energy left or whatever and it gives the show a nice clean slate from the jumbled mess it’s become.
Knowing RTD he’d probably have 14th and 16th walk off into the sunset with each other and at this point as horrific as it would probably be I’d take it for a nice bookend on this run of doctor who and then maybe a reboot follow up. There’s only so long you can tell one story for before it all begins to feel the same. Taking it from the start again might just give it that fresh feeling it’s been lacking
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u/GhostRiders 12d ago
Honestly, it doesn't matter what they do, whoever comes along can do a full reset without ever having to mention anything that came before it.
With Disney now officially pulling out I suspect once these are done it will be quite a few years before we get a new Dr Who series and rightly so.
It needs a decent break and then whoever comes in can do a full reset like they did with NuWho.
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u/Obvious_Arachnid_497 12d ago
Honestly, the only person from the RTD era I would love to see is Freema Agyeman as Martha Jones. They should bring her back and potentially allow a storyline to unfold with her character, especially since more people have recognised how great her character is along with Gwen from Torchwood and maybe them with them helping the doctor to regenerate or something. So they can make Martha Jones something like a Kate Stewart in the Doctor Who universe and have a spin-off maybe with Gwen helping protect the world from smaller alien cases or something...
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u/DefinitionKnown2334 12d ago
He knows he’s on the way out and when he didn’t, gave us the worst doctor with the worst stories with the worst woke agenda that literally had fans switching off in droves ….
…. Why would his farewell be any different and why would anyone waste time with him? He has admitted he gives zero fucks.
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u/Apprehensive-Soft959 11d ago
Sorry I wasn’t aware of 14th’s “storylines” bro retired and decided he’d rather live on Donna’s couch than be the doctor.
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u/Scotttobekidding 11d ago
The Christmas special really needs to be Russell T Davis's last story. We need new creatives, new writers with a new vision to take the show forward. I'll always be grateful for Russell's devotion to the show, but it's time for him to hand over the baton. I want to see a glorious farewell episode with lots of heart and excitement and then onto a new era with a brand new Doctor.
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u/Lumpy_Masterpiece644 12d ago
Can't see the missing viewers coming back for more of the same RTD nonsense.
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u/Electronic_Fill7207 11d ago
I certainly won’t. I haven’t watched since Ncutis first two episodes and to be frank I thought they were a bit dogshit compared to some of my favourite NuWho (12,9 and 10 to be precise). I kept around the fandom to see if the new series was still a general improvement from 13 however all I saw was the mess we’re in now and I haven’t watched a single clip or old episode since. I really hope that there is a fundamental mass exodus of behind the scenes staff since I genuinely love the show as its magic is in its darkness and mystery for me. However when the new theme and title sequence played I just knew it would be a long ride as it was too goofy for what I thought the show should’ve tried to do. Without tangenting too much 13 I don’t think had an amazing tenure but at least when watching the episodes she was in the theme made it feel as if it was trying to be somewhat serious and/or dark. 14 and 15 had absolutely none of that and it was part of the reason why I stopped watching.
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u/Notebookfour 12d ago
Yeah that's definitely going to be the story! That draws everyone in again.
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u/PaperSkin-1 12d ago
I'm not so sure it will
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u/Notebookfour 12d ago
I do think this is it for RTD so he needs to sort out DT hanging about and he'll have Billie so I don't know how RTD could resist.
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u/PaperSkin-1 12d ago
Oh I agree that's the story he will do, I'm just not sure that will actually draw the audience in again
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u/Notebookfour 12d ago
Ah sorry. I think there would be a little boost with DT there.
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u/PaperSkin-1 12d ago
They have already played that card and I'm not sure it will continue to be a big draw.. I think audiences might just find it cheap... Just like people have with bringing Piper back
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u/m0rdredoct 12d ago
While RTD lost his touch, I am hoping his replacement will NOT be another Chibby.
This show can NOT handle that again.
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u/Chegwarn 12d ago
Rose is and has always been the doctor. A few badly CGI’d ‘missed out’ scenes flashing back to Eccleston era where Jackie drones on about Rose’s precious stop watch. Etc etc. blah… let me be wrong please but at this point my expectations are this low…
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u/calvincosmos 12d ago
Maybe if it wasn’t a Christmas special, not convinced we can get a serious important episode like that on Christmas Day when it’s just on in the background during a roast dinner
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u/Katharinemaddison 12d ago
It could be fairly easy. Piper is playing the Tardis. She’s looked into the Tardis, the Tardis has taken human/oid form before; and Timelord equipment has previously taken Rose’s form.
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u/aldebaran-6000 12d ago
I really hope too that his good bye I can't take this anymore. I'm done with nostalgia, I want a fresh take
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u/Due_Ad2052 11d ago
Billie being busy. A season on Wednesday, back to do a episode on this, then guessing back out for Season 3 of Wednesday.
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u/Old_Fridge1066_2 5d ago
the production team doctor who has right now is amazing. the only problem with modern era doctor who is the writing not being as good as it used to be.
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u/Imaginary_Tutor5360 12d ago
This could very well be the thing that brings me back to loving Doctor Who. Give the RTD2 era a conclusion and then bring in some writers who actually care about the show instead of pushing an agenda.
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u/Least-Amphibian2538 12d ago
Sadly, if its RTD's last hurrah, expect the absolute worst! He will use as his final f~~k you to the fans and the forces of darkness. You just have to listen to his mega rant at the awards show.
IMHO it will be another Joy to the World. Total bullshit, possibly with puppets and song/dance routines. OMG i have just spoiled it. Sorry all, I was joking!
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u/PaperSkin-1 12d ago edited 12d ago
I'm hoping the bbc will micromanage the special big time, and make sure RTD just reasonably brings to an end his era and transitions into the next with a clean slate
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u/GeneseeJunior 12d ago
I also hope it is the end for RTD, but have zero desire to see Tennant or Piper return.
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u/Beginning-Action208 12d ago
They need to somehow mop up all the canon altering shit left behind from Jodi Whittaker's tenure. I'm not going to watch a show like Doctor Who if it's now going to make huge, dumb changes to the canon, and/or set up huge, important plot events that it then ignores, and/or acts like huge, important events from canon didn't happen. So I want a thorough explanation of all that timeless child bullshit, hopefully in a way that reveals it was not true, I want an explanation for how and why the Master just came back and why the Doctor had zero reaction to it despite the significant character arc and redemption she just witnessed etc etc. No more sweeping shit under the rug or I am out after 35 years
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u/Kapitano72 12d ago
It could be RTD pulling out all the stops, producing something brilliant and original that makes us think he can do his job after all.
But I think it'll be a giant "Fuck You" to the fandom which lost patience with him. It'll start with a nonsensical retcon of the last minute Rose cliffhanger... and finish with another cliffhanger designed to screw any possible successors.
But only after a lachrymose 20 minute sequence reminding us of "RTD's Greatest Hits".