Whatever your opinion of the Chris Chibnall / Jodie Whittaker era of the show, one thing that’s undeniable is that the promotion was dialled-back. While the likes of Russell T. Davies and Steven Moffat couldn’t resist a series of teases and minisodes through their tenures, the Chibnall year’s seem largely stripped to the requisite promotions a few weeks before broadcast. Secrecy was the name of the game, even if it didn’t always build anticipation as expected…
But with Davies now back in the show-runner throne, it seems to be a return to the old style and, indeed, since Jodie regenerated back in November, there’s been a steady string of regular news, promotion and wry winks to the faithful fans… despite the next adventures of the Doctor seeming to be nearly a year away.
To begin with – the reveal of new companion Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson) was quite quickly followed by photos of the ‘look’ that she and incoming Time Lord Ncuti Gatwa would have in the new run. Given that the next series of Doctor Who is now well into production – and to be clear, the next full season of the series for 2024, rather than just next year’s three specials featuring David Tennant – it was only a matter of time before the next Doctor and Ruby were seen out filming. therefore, the BBC released official images of the actors in the clothes that they’ll be wearing.
And clothes is a better word than ‘costumes‘ as there’s certainly an element of everyday understatement… Some may have thought that Gatwa’s naturally exuberant style might have played into the character’s wardrobe, but it appears that returning show-runner Russell T. Davies has once again decided on something that doesn’t immediately make the Time Lord stand out as anything immediately alien. The tweed suit has the same kind of length that has worked for some previous Doctors, the jacket allowing the kind of cut that works well for running without billowing out like a cloak or cape and there’s a warm colour-scheme to the ensemble. Gatwa has also kept the moustache with which he’s recently been seen. Gibson’s ensemble is also contemporary – a white patterned jumper, blue shorts and light blue denim jacket – perhaps a little reminiscent of Billie Piper’s look from when the show relaunched in 2005.
One of the Davies hallmarks was a Christmas episode of Doctor Who (Chibnall’s choice was to shift it to New Year) but while a full episode would never have been possible for this season, Davies and Co managed a surprise with a new teaser for the Tennant specials, debuting on the BBC after Strictly Ballroom on Christmas Day… There appears to be scenes from all of the specials and the return of Catherine Tate’s Donna Noble in action… as well as confirmation of an adaptation of the ‘Beep the Meep’ story from the earliest days of Doctor Who Weekly back in the 1970s…
