The Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies has said he approaches the beloved sci-fi series as if it is an “eight-year-old watching”, ahead of the Timelord’s return to the BBC.
The long-running TV favourite returns this month with three special episodes featuring David Tennant as the 14th Doctor, to coincide with its 60th anniversary.
In comments reported by the Daily Telegraph, the writer and television producer admitted some scenes were “violent” and “scary”.
One of his predecessors, Steven Moffat, previously branded the programme a “children’s show”.
Davies’s view was more nuanced. He said: “I think at the heart of it … it is not a children’s show but I think at the heart of it is an eight year old watching, I think it’s always that. We think of that when we are in the edits.
“And do you know there is some very scary stuff, some is stuff is violent, it’s not for children but it is about children – it’s about a child’s imagination.”
Davies said the first of the three specials, which airs on 25 November, is family-friendly, with Miriam Margolyes as the voice behind the Meep, a furry and seemingly adorable alien adapted from the Star Beast comic strip in a special for the series.
On the Meep, he said: “I think a child would invent the Meep, wouldn’t they?…. I think it’s very much a child’s creation, I think it’s designed for children to like, in a good way.”
He had words of caution for the subsequent two specials.
“It [first special] is like a great big Pixar family film, like a bank holiday film – all the family watching, lots of laughs, a funny monster. The second one, Wild Blue Yonder, is darker. Not scary – it’s genuinely weird,” he said.
The third, The Giggle, features Neil Patrick Harris as a toymaker and is “nuts, completely mad, frightening”, Davies said. “That one will scare you.”
Davies, who revived the franchise in 2005, reportedly brought Tennant and Catherine Tate onboard for the anniversary specials. Tennant will then make way for the 15th Doctor, played by the Sex Education star Ncuti Gatwa.
Gatwa’s first episode as the Doctor will air over the festive period, with the Coronation Street actor Millie Gibson, 18, becoming the youngest companion in the show’s history.
Doctor Who will air on the BBC in the UK and Ireland, and the streaming platform Disney+ will show episodes to audiences elsewhere.
