Doctor Who Developing Spin-Offs And Shared Universe
But while audiences have been focused on the show, makers of Doctor Who appear to have been quietly brewing some major plans for expanding the meticulously created fictional world.
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Currently, the focus of Doctor Who fans is how the mind-boggling storyline of its thirteenth season will progress. What turn of events will lead to Jodie Whittaker’s version of the titular character finally taking her bow? But while audiences have been focused on the show, makers of the franchise appear to have been quietly brewing some major plans for expanding the meticulously created fictional world.
It is already known that Season 13 will not only mark the end of Jodie Whittaker’s tenure as the Doctor but will also be bidding farewell to showrunner Chris Chibnall. After his departure, Russell T. Davies, who gave the show a new lease on life when he revived it back in 2005, has been reinstated as the showrunner for the next season as well as for the future seasons. And as per a recent development, it looks like Davies will be revisiting his earlier plans of establishing many spin-offs shows under a giant, shared universe.
Recently, a new production company has been listed on GOV.UK, by the name of WHONIVERSE1 LTD. Fans of the show are already well-versed in what meaning this particular title holds. It is a name given to Doctor Who’s extended universe established by Davies by creating shows like Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures more than a decade ago. If this subtle hint isn’t convincing, this new production company has Julie Gardner and Jane Tranter as two of its directors. Gardner and Tranter are both co-founders of Bad Wolf Production that will be co-producing the next season in 2023.
Interestingly, Gardner was one of the executive producers of Doctor Who from 2005-2010 i.e., when Davies was busy carrying out his plans of expanding the show’s universe. Also, apart from the above rather obvious coincidences, we have Davies’ continued interest in creating a Doctor Who universe that rivals the uniqueness of the expansive Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Long before the official announcement of Davies succeeding Chibnall was made, the director had shared in a chat with Radio Times that he believes the Doctor Who universe should be where franchises Star Wars and Marvel are currently. Like them, Doctor Who’s world should have progressed to the point where they would have been announcing shows like “The Nyssa Adventures or The Return of Donna Noble,” and “you should have the Tenth and Eleventh Doctors together in a 10-part series.”
But Davies’ plans for Doctor Who won’t be revealed until the current season of the BBC series wraps up. And before that, the bigger mystery to solve is the identity of the next Doctor. Whittaker has shared with Metro.co.uk that though she has filmed her regeneration scene, even she has no idea who will play her character in Season 14. While the next Doctor will most probably be someone new, if the makers of the show are planning to bring back actors who played some of the most iconic versions of the character, both Matt Smith and David Tenant have made it known that they are more than willing to make a comeback.
But, for now, the focus of the fans is how Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor Who will save her companions and put an end to the universe-annhilating anomaly called the “Flux.”
