Doctor Who Season 14 Breaks A 19-Year RTD Streak (& It's Cause For Concern)

Summary RTD is writing six of Doctor Who season 14's eight episodes - a higher percentage than he ever has before.

This allows RTD to tightly control the creative direction, reminiscent of his first season as showrunner in 2005.

Concerns arise over the lack of different voices for season 14, as collaborative efforts have historically produced stronger Doctor Who seasons.

Doctor Who season 14 is ending a streak from Russell T Davies' original time as showrunner, but that isn't necessarily something to celebrate. After Chris Chibnall's Doctor Who era was defined by division and underwhelming reactions, RTD was tempted back into the TARDIS fold, his missive clearly to restore the old magic from when Doctor Who first relaunched in 2005. As much as Doctor Who season 14 is rehashing the past, it also signals the dawn of a brand-new era, with a Disney+ distribution deal securing a healthier budget and a wider audience than ever before as Ncuti Gatwa's reign begins.

While Doctor Who's traditional wall of secrecy stands tall ahead of season 14's premiere, some salient details have dripped into the public domain. Doctor Who season 14's episode titles have been revealed, as well as the directors and writers for each - including the surprise return of former showrunner Steven Moffat penning "Boom." One of the biggest takeaways concerns RTD's involvement with the creative side of Doctor Who in 2024, which may give cause for concern as the show's next era approaches.

Related Why RTD Left Doctor Who In 2010 (& Why He Returned 14 Years Later) After five years as the showrunner of Doctor Who, Russell T Davies left the series in 2010. 14 years later, his return is motivated by a clear reason.

Doctor Who Season 14 Is The First Time Since 2005 RTD Has Written Over Half A Season

RTD Is Writing Much Of Doctor Who Season 14 By Himself

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Doctor Who season 14 is only eight episodes long, and Russell T Davies has written a whopping six of those himself. Only Steven Moffat's aforementioned "Boom" and "Rogue," a Bridgerton-esque episode by Kate Herron and Briony Redman, will come without the "by Russell T Davies" tag in the opening credits. That is relatively unprecedented in modern Doctor Who, with the closest equivalent being season 1 in 2005.

Episode Writer Space Babies Russell T Davies The Devil's Chord Russell T Davies Boom Steven Moffat 73 Yards Russell T Davies Dot & Bubble Russell T Davies Rogue Kate Herron & Briony Redman The Legend of Ruby Sunday Russell T Davies Empire of Death Russell T Davies

RTD wrote eight episodes for the show's big 2000s comeback too. As a caveat, that season was 13 episodes long - much beefier than Doctor Who season 14. Consequently, Doctor Who season 14 is the first time since season 1 that RTD has written over half of a season by himself, and in percentage terms, is the most he has ever written for a single season. RTD being the brains behind six of Doctor Who season 14's eight episodes boils down to a 75% share of the scripts compared to 61.5% in Doctor Who season 1, and that second figure would be even lower if two-part episodes were counted as one.

For the remaining seasons of his original stint as showrunner, RTD wrote five episodes per 13-episode season of Doctor Who, not including Christmas specials. That trend extended into the Steven Moffat era of Doctor Who. After taking over from RTD, Moffat typically wrote between five and seven episodes in each 13-episode season, and some of those were co-written alongside other scribes. As such, RTD dominating the writing for season 14 is not the norm for modern Doctor Who.

Russell T Davies' Doctor Who Season 1 Written Trend Makes Sense

RTD Keeping Tight Control Of His Project Is Only Logical

Unusual though it may be, Russell T Davies writing three quarters of Doctor Who's new season by himself seems logical. Similar to the show's return in 2005, the upcoming reboot with Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson leading Doctor Who's cast is largely RTD's own vision, and will likely have an overarching narrative thread in the mold of season 1's Bad Wolf. It makes sense to have RTD across everything and writing a large portion of the story himself in order to maintain a consistency of tone, character, and continuity.

Doctor Who season 14 is virtually a reboot in and of itself, and is being heavily pushed as "season 1" in marketing. This brand reset further explains the need for RTD to keep tight control of the creative aspect. This is very much his project, and the continued future of Doctor Who as a leading media franchise depends on its success.

With only eight episodes to play with, the serialized elements in Doctor Who season 14 will need to be woven through each installment. Rather than just sprinkling subtle clues during the first 11 episodes and then dropping a grand reveal in the finale, long-running plot points such as Ruby Sunday's parentage, the One Who Waits, and the trailer's teased storyline of averting yet another apocalypse need to play out across the entire eight-episode run. Again, this justifies the decision to have one creative mind leading the charge.

Why RTD Writing So Much Of Doctor Who Season 14 Is Concerning

Doctor Who Is Better When It's A Collaborative Effort

One would be forgiven for interpreting RTD's name at the bottom of almost every Doctor Who season 14 script as a small red flag. Doctor Who is often better as a collaborative effort, with the strongest seasons from David Tennant, Matt Smith, and Peter Capaldi's Doctors calling upon a variety of writing talents beyond just the central showrunner. It is also notable that Chris Chibnall - who oversaw easily the most controversial period of modern Doctor Who - also preferred to pen most episodes himself. Chibnall wrote or co-wrote six of season 11's ten installments, seven out of ten for season 12, then all six of the disappointing Flux.

Doctor Who seems to thrive best when it is fueled by a bevy of different voices. Given that six of season 14's episodes are written by the same man and another is by Steven Moffat - not exactly a newcomer to Doctor Who - only Kate Herron and Briony Redman's "Rogue" is actually giving a platform to new creative minds. That raises a concern over whether Ncuti Gatwa's era can truly deliver on its promise to bring something fresh to the Doctor Who table.

It is also worth noting that, while Russell T Davies is demonstrably a fantastic writer, his true value to Doctor Who is what he brings as its showrunner. RTD's first ride with Doctor Who was by far the most cohesive era of the modern show in terms of having a vision and sticking to it. Moffat's tenure grew too complex and unwieldy with its Trenzalore and Silence arcs, while Chibnall's Timeless Child went down like a Cyberman stand-up routine. As great as he was in the showrunner's seat, however, not many of Doctor Who's best episodes can be attributed to RTD's pen.

"Midnight" and "The End of Time" are among RTD's best efforts, while "Love & Monsters" sits on the opposite end of the spectrum, but most fall somewhere in the middle - the happy medium between "solid" and "good." The real standout adventures of the Ninth and Tenth Doctors came from other writers - usually a certain Steven Moffat. That trend of writing reliably strong but rarely classic Doctor Who scripts raises yet another reason for caution as the RTD-heavy season 14 approaches.

Doctor Who season 14 premieres May 10 on Disney+ and May 11 on iPlayer.