Doctor Who’s beloved and returning showrunner Russell T Davies issued a warning to parents this week about how “dark” and “violent” the upcoming David Tennant and Catherine Tate-led episodes will be.
18 years after reviving Doctor Who and debuting Christopher Eccleston as the titular T.A.R.D.I.S. flyer, Davies has returned to lead the BBC series with Tennant alongside – and Barbie star Ncuti Gatwa to soon follow.
Before 2024 begins, Davies has three Doctor Who specials to reveal to the world along with the series’ first Christmas episode since 2017 – a classic and traditional yearly event for Whovians worldwide.
The first out of the three specials is entitled “The Star Beast” and premieres on BBC and Disney+ on November 25, 2023 – its sequel specials are “Wild Blue Yonder” (Nov. 2) and “The Giggle” (Dec. 9).
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Doctor Who’s 2023 Christmas episode, “The Church On Ruby Road”, premieres on Christmas Day on BBC One and Disney+ – and will star Gatwa as the official Fifteenth Doctor alongside companion Ruby played by Millie Gibson.
Russell T Davies Warns Whovian Parents
As per The Independent, Davies recently said that even though he knows children will be watching the upcoming episodes, “it’s not a children’s show”.
Davies confirmed that the first out of the three specials, “The Star Beast”, will be the most “child-friendly” episode out of the bunch – however, the additional specials may not be.
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“It is like a great big Pixar family film, like a bank holiday film (…) all the family watching, lots of laughs, a funny monster,” he said about the first special.
As for special 2 and special 3, Davies warned that they may not be as appropriate for children, “The Second one, Wild Blue Yonder, is darker. Not scary (…) it’s genuinely weird,” he teased.
He added: “We do very scary stuff. Some stuff is quite violent. It’s not for children, it’s about children.”
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“The most important thing is that eight-year-old watching, and I do know that when you’re eight, or when you’re six, there’s nothing more disappointing than a disappointing episode of your favourite show. That’s a real low that day,” he continued to add.
“So you’ve got to keep it variable and change it, but it is that thought of disappointing that kid [that] drives us all.”
Doctor Who returns to screens on November 25th on BBC One in the UK and Disney+ in the rest of the world.
