Doctor Who in 2018 – what do we want to see?

Next year, Doctor Who will be back with a fresh start, as Jodie Whittaker becomes the thirteenth Doctor and the first ever female Doctor. The new season will be fresh start in other ways too, bringing us a new supporting cast of TARDIS travellers and a new showrunner, Chris Chibnall. The previous showrunner, Steven Moffat, has been leading the show for seven years, ever since Matt Smith first became the Doctor, but he’s due to step down this Christmas and make way for a new creative vision. The Radio Times recently ran a survey asking fans what their hopes were for the new season, so let’s take a look at what they said.

A majority of fans (63%) said that they would prefer to see multiple companions travelling alongside the Doctor, rather than just the one. A BBC press release has confirmed the hopes of these fans, revealing that Bradley Walsh, Tosin Cole and Mandip Gill have all been cast in recurring roles in the new series. Other than Bradley Walsh (presenter of The Chase and actor in a number of things), these are new names to me, but this could be an exciting shake-up of the usual format of just one companion. Some fans also suggested that the new companions could be from another time or another planet. I feel this would be an interesting new direction for the show, but the names of these new characters (Graham, Ryan and Yasmin) suggest that this won’t be the case.

One of the most amazing things about Doctor Who is the unlimited potential it has in terms of when and where each episode is set

Those surveyed by the Radio Times were split on whether they wanted to see more new villains or plenty of old ones returning. Indeed, a balance between new and old villains is probably a good idea. When asked which character fans would most like to see return, Captain Jack Harness was overwhelmingly the most popular choice with one third of the votes. John Barrowman’s much-loved character has not been seen in Doctor Who since David Tennant was the Doctor, but he hasn’t been forgotten. John Simm’s incarnation of the Master had been absent for just as long but returned to the show this year to star alongside his successor, Michelle Gomez as Missy. I really enjoyed the return of Simm and feel that he was well-used in the story, so I certainly wouldn’t be averse to seeing more old faces return such as Captain Jack. However, it seems likely that Chris Chibnall will be more concerned with building up new characters of his own this year, rather than bringing back old ones.

And finally, a 68% majority said that they would prefer to see more adventures in space and time than on modern day Earth. I cannot agree more with this and think that one of the best things the show can do is explore the universe more and make us believe that it is a big place. Stories set in the same locations, with the same characters and villains have their place, but should be more scarce. One of the most amazing things about Doctor Who is the unlimited potential it has in terms of when and where each episode is set, and so they would be daft not to take full advantage of this. In particular, I would like to see some more stories set in the past. I am a History student, after all, and I feel like there are so many vibrant and interesting historical settings that could be explored (i.e. not Victorian England again…)

On the whole, I’m really looking forward to next year’s Doctor Who because I have hope that it will be a fresh start and an original take on the series. My interest in Doctor Who has slightly waned in the last few years, mostly because I’ve become tired of certain facets of Steven Moffat’s style. In particular, his storylines have been disjointed and inconsistent (e.g. the monk stories this year, the immortal girl story the season before). Having a new showrunner and a new cast who are keen to make a good first impression will hopefully inspire one of the most exciting years of Doctor Who for a while.