Letter from the Showrunner
RUSSELL T DAVIES unwraps Doctor Who’s Christmas Day teaser…
ILLUSTRATION BY MARTIN GERAGHTY
Can we? Could we? Shouldwe? Release a trailer 11 months ahead of transmission, on Christmas Day? Is that mad?! Is that just ridiculous?! But we decided that the fun outweighed the risk. At one point before Christmas, Jane Tranter was musing on Ncuti’s appearance in the Barbie trailer. Bit odd, she said, releasing a trailer now, for July. I said, “Jane, our show doesn’t go out until November!” “Oh yes,” she said, and we hooted.
Our trailer was created by Maneet Lawson and her brilliant team at BBC Studios, with the edit being done by Phil Ball. It went through a hundred versions before you saw it. Too much, too little? Is that FX shot ready, or should we use a placeholder? A guest star dropped at the last second. Ruth Madeley happily added – but then, don’t forget, warn Ruth, tell her, let her know the secret’s out on Christmas Day, her phone will go mad! (It did.) At one point, we’d been through so many changes, I said to Maneet, “Is it like this on Call the Midwife?” “Oh yes,” she said, and we hooted.