{"id":40102,"date":"2023-11-20T16:42:18","date_gmt":"2023-11-20T15:42:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=1930013"},"modified":"2023-11-20T18:07:53","modified_gmt":"2023-11-20T17:07:53","slug":"doctor-whos-chris-chibnall-praises-wonderful-davros-reinvention","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/doctor-whos-chris-chibnall-praises-wonderful-davros-reinvention\/","title":{"rendered":"Doctor Who\u2019s Chris Chibnall praises \u201cwonderful\u201d Davros reinvention"},"content":{"rendered":"

The former showrunner speaks on the importance of occasionally ripping up the rule book. <\/p>

By Louise Griffin\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Monday, 20 November 2023 at 15:42 PM<\/p>

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Former Doctor Who<\/a> showrunner Chris Chibnall<\/a> has heaped praise on Russell T Davies\u2019s reinvention of Davros<\/a> in the recent Children in Need scene<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The new scene, which was set early in the Daleks\u2019 history, when the prototype was still being developed, saw David Tennant return as the Fourteenth Doctor and Julian Bleach reprise his role as the villainous Davros \u2013 but not in his wheelchair, as fans have previously known him.<\/p>\n

Speaking about how important it is to occasionally rip up the rule book, Chibnall exclusively told RadioTimes.com<\/a>: \u201cI don\u2019t think you would characterise our era as being scared to move the furniture about. Everybody who\u2019s run it, and everybody who writes it, everybody who works on it loves it. Anything that happens on it comes from a position of love.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think what\u2019s lovely about that sketch is Russell\u2019s just cheeky with it. Like, he\u2019s respectful and disrespectful and you sort of need to be that as a showrunner and it\u2019s delightful. But actually there\u2019s a lot to break down in that sketch, where you go \u2013 he\u2019s moved things on.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s made some decisions, the decision around Davros, and stuff like that, [they\u2019re] really fantastic, wonderful decisions and it has to keep changing. It has to keep evolving, it has to keep checking itself against the world and being a little bit ahead of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Chris\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Former Doctor Who showrunner Chris Chibnall.<\/span><\/figcaption> Ben Blackall\/BBC<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

Chibnall added: \u201cI think the joy of seeing David back on screen as the Doctor is really profound, and I\u2019m sure it\u2019ll be profound for the whole country and, I think, hopefully, for the whole world. Even in that little Children in Need scene, just the joy that comes through and the \u2018he\u2019s back!\u2019-ness of it \u2013 and he\u2019s one of the greatest actors in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

The writer went on to add that bold decisions are at the heart of the show, pointing out that the first regeneration is a classic example: \u201cThat\u2019s a choice somebody made three years into the show, when you go, \u2018Oh, we need a new lead actor, what do we do? Or do we stop the show?\u2019 And they went, \u2018No, no, no, we\u2019re gonna get this person in. And we\u2019re going to do that.\u2019 And then it changes the entire show, and then every time it happens, again, it changes the entire show.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut somebody made that really bold decision. Imagine making a decision that bold about the show now \u2013 everybody would go nuts. But it\u2019s built on huge creative swings, huge changes, huge developments, and it\u2019s mainly built on those amazing lead actors. All of them are so wonderful and so different, and to think then that we\u2019re going to have an entirely new take on the Doctor, once again, is just thrilling.\u201d<\/p>

Davies recently explained the carefully considered thought process behind reinventing Davros\u2019s look for the Children in Need scene.<\/p>\n

Speaking on new BBC Three companion series\u00a0Doctor Who Unleashed<\/a>, Davies said: \u201cWe had long conversations about bringing Davros back, because he\u2019s a fantastic character, [but] time and society and culture and taste has moved on.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd there\u2019s a problem with the Davros of old in that he\u2019s a wheelchair user, who is evil. And I had problems with that. And a lot of us on the production team had problems with that, of associating disability with evil. And trust me, there\u2019s a very long tradition of this.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not blaming people in the past at all, but the world changes and when the world changes, Doctor Who has to change as well. So we made the choice to bring back Davros without the facial scarring and without the wheelchair \u2013 or his support unit, which functions as a wheelchair.<\/p>\n