AS THE TARDIS PREPARES TO SPIN ITS WAY AROUND THE GALAXY AGAIN, DOCTOR WHO’S NEW STAR AND RETURNING SHOWRUNNER, NCUTI GATWA AND RUSSELL T DAVIES, EXPLAIN HOW THEY’RE SHAKING UP THE UNIVERSE

WORDS BOYD HILTON JACEY

IT'S ABOUT TIME

Of course it is. Isn’t it always, with Doctor Who? But it’s been nearly three years since Russell T Davies agreed to run the show again, and two years since Ncuti Gatwa was unveiled as the new Doctor at the BAFTAs. Yet, until now, we’ve only seen an admittedly glorious regeneration scene, and a Christmas special.

So, finally… it’s time. Time for the 15th Doctor’s first full, eight-part series to arrive. Time for Gatwa’s entirely new take on the character to really shine. Time for this most physical, energetic of Doctors to let rip. And time for Davies’ extraordinary vision to get the budget it deserves. Let the battle for streaming-era hearts and minds commence.

Davies, who in-between Who stints has brought us A Very English Scandal, Years And Years, It’s A Sin and more, is calling this ‘Season 1’, underlining the idea that Doctor Who is starting all over again. Partnering with the BBC, Disney+ are now on board to stream it internationally, making this a seismic relaunch, with Davies living out his dream of masterminding his favourite show without having one budgetary hand tied behind his back. He’s starting as he means to go on with ‘Space Babies’, the new series opener, which is daring, freaky, outrageous fun: textbook Russell T Davies, then. Gatwa, meanwhile, is particularly excited for viewers to see Episode 2, ‘The Devil’s Chord’, forever to be known as ‘the Beatles episode’, which also airs in the opening-night double-bill.

As Empire sits down in person with Davies and Gatwa, there’s a definite sense of the stars aligning; a fusion of unleashed showrunner and mercurial star. They bounce off each other energetically, intermittently bellowing with laughter, sparkling with excitement for the new era.

Russell, does it feel like TV and the world in general have changed exponentially since your previous stint as Who showrunner ended in 2010?