Doctor Who: How A Fourth Doctor Episode Inspired Steven Moffat's Suspenseful Season 14 Return

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Summary Steven Moffat's return to Doctor Who season 14 was inspired by a suspenseful moment in an iconic Tom Baker Fourth Doctor story.

The tense episode "Boom" traps the Fifteenth Doctor on a landmine, forcing him into a high-stakes situation with new companion Ruby Sunday.

Moffat wanted to explore pure suspense in the episode, showcasing the Doctor's resourcefulness in a life-threatening scenario.

Former Doctor Who showrunner and returning writer Steven Moffat reveals how a moment from an iconic Tom Baker Fourth Doctor story inspired his season 14 writing return. Season 14 episode 3, "Boom," saw Ncuti Gatwa's Fifteenth Doctor trapped once he stepped onto a landmine in a warzone, leaving himself and new companion Ruby Sunday in a dire, tense situation. Moffat joined the main Doctor Who series as a writer with its 2005 revival, but would take on the role of showrunner in 2010 and hold the position until 2017.

Following Doctor Who season 14's tense third episode, Moffat revealed how a classic story inspired his return in a behind the scenes video on the Doctor Who YouTube. Moffat revealed that the opening episode of "Genesis of the Daleks" inspired "Boom." Check out Moffat's explanation below:

The inspiration for this episode came from the vast, imaginative cavern of my--episode 1 of "Genesis of the Daleks". Tom Baker stands on a landmine, and he escapes two or three minutes later. So when I was thinking that the one thing I hadn't done in Doctor Who was do pure suspense, pure edge of your seat suspense, I thought, 'Let's put him back on a landmine and not make it so easy.' Now, if you think of the Doctor, every Doctor, they dash about a bit, they're whirling and twirling. Movement is quite a big thing about the Doctor. Now, you plant him in one spot, and he knows if he moves, if he breathes the wrong way, he will evaporate. It forces him into the place where the Doctor is at his most interesting, which is he's on the back foot. He's got only his number one super weapon - he can talk anyone into defeat. So, that's what I wanted to do.

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Doctor Who season 14 releases every Friday simultaneously on Disney+ for international audiences and BBC iPlayer for UK viewers.

Source: Doctor Who