So, based on the discussions from the What can NuWho/Revival Who learn from Classic? thread, I’ve created a loose 5-season run for a new post-Ncuti Doctor. It’s still mostly in the Modern Who template, but reaching back to the pre-Covid years with 13-episode seasons. There are a mix of single episodes and two parters, but the placement of two-parters aren’t as uniform as they were during the original RTD run. I’ve also opted to avoid holiday specials, mostly because they interferred with the arc I’ve conceived for some of the companions. Some episodes will have more detail than others because I want to leave as much room for writer creativity as possible. Also, I’ve purposely left the Doctor vague because you never know who might be cast. I’ll post each season here separately after I do a little more formatting and tidying up.
Season 1
Episode 1 - This episode introduces a new Doctor, new companions and is set on present-day earth. My idea for the new companions is to have a single father and his twenty-something daughter. I’m really leaning towards the idea of having Irish companions as a way to keep the modern template, but change it up a bit. The threat of the episode will be a simple, more personal threat, and be something new.
Episode 2/3 - We’re jumpng right into a two-part story right off the bat. This one I’m setting in a future alien world (probably the Garazone bazaar because it’s got so much potential). No real threat, more of just experiencing aliens and culture shock. Primary conflict: one of the companions gets separated from Doctor and other companion and has to be rescued/find a way back to TARDIS. Make this a two-parter in order to let the world breathe and to spread the cost of the sets, costumes, makeup and CGI. Make as much of the aliens as possible practical effects.
Episode 4 - Pure historical! Show that the past is just as alien as space/the future. Use a non-european historical topic to educate/explore (ancient China, caliphate Baghdad, Mughal India).
Episode 5 - Our first return to “home” (wherever that is). Bring in a returning monster, but not a really major one, something more small-scale.
Episode 6 - Jungle planet with sentient plant people. Maybe an environmental message, but make it fairly subtle and work hard to make it feel natural within the story. The story must come first, message second.
Episode 7/8 - Pseudo-historical two-parter. First part is exploring the world, maybe with brief hints of alien threat. Second part is defeating alien threat. Possibly new monster, possible returning b-, c- or d-list threat. Set this one somewhere in British history.
Episode 9 - Return to “home”. Low-key threat.
Episode 10 - Alien world. Quarry planet, ancient ruins, dangerous artifacts. Envisioned as a cross between Indiana Jones/Tomb Raider/Tomb of the Cybermen, but no cybermen. Villains are treasure hunters, or someone else hunting the macguffin, and can human, alien or a mix thereof. Doctor stops macguffin from being activated on the planet, but the macguffin disappears. Will become important next season.
Episode 11 - Space station. Possibly a Doctor-lite episode.
Episode 12/13 - Return to “home” where a new technology is taking off. The Doctor knows it shouldn’t exist. New alien that has introduced it and is using it for some scheme. First part is discovering the purpose of the tech and slow build to villain reveal. Second part is defeating the villain and companions deciding to continue traveling with the Doctor.
Darth for showrunner??? please??
Season 2
Episode 1 - Alien world. New companion (alien female twenty-something) bringing total to three. New companion bonds with existing female companion.
Episode 2 - Return to “home”. See Earth through alien companion’s eyes.
Episode 3/4 - Artifact from S1:E10 resurfaces. Space station setting similar to DS9. Doctor defeats villain and saves station, but macguffin disappears before they can retrieve it.
Episode 5 - Pure historical: sequel to the Aztecs set during the Spanish conquest.
Episode 6 - Alien world. Undersea base. Base under siege.
Episode 7 - Peladon story.
Episode 8/9 - Unsure details (leave for writer). Split girls off from father and Doctor. Allow for more character development/bonding of girls.
Episode 10 - Cybermen on a failing mining colony on ice planet. Mondasian design or new, more cyborg design (less big uniform robot, more these are people struggling to survive).
Episode 11 - Return “home”. New alien threat.
Episode 12/13 - Alien world, something populated, maybe insectoid race. Macguffin reappears. Doctor defeats the villain and recovers the macguffin, but the daughter companion is killed in the process.
Season 3
Episode 1 - Return “home”. Deal with the aftermath of companion death. Doctor gives the Adric defense. Low-level threat that is kind of a side quest. Father doesn’t end up blaming Doctor, but leaves to deal with grief. Alien companion goes with him to help father heal.
Episode 2 - Doctor solo. On vacation to a tropical island resort.
Episode 3/4 - Doctor solo. Far future. Dalek invasion of temporal research station.
Episode 5 - New companion. Middle-aged highschool history teacher, female. Can be from London or regional British city. Alien companion rejoins Doctor at the end. Father companion maybe makes appearance.
Episode 6 - Pure historical: Renaissance Italy. History teacher takes charge and learns about the dangers of history.
Episode 7 - Base under siege, asteroid mining.
Episode 8 - Return “home”, Ice Warriors, pick father back up.
Episode 9/10 - Two-parter, desert world. Maybe a trade caravan. Maybe use the idea that TARDIS is taken to the caravan end point as the reason for using the caravan. Similar to Marco Polo, maybe.
Episode 11 - Pseudo-historical in Ancient Egypt. Maybe deal with construction of the Great Pyramid.
Episode 12/13 - Future Earth Empire space station with a con man running some scheme. Reveal of cliffhanger is that it’s the Monk. The Doctor stops his scheme, but it’s a more light-hearted finale.
Season 4
Episode 1 - Return “home”. Father and history teacher have hit it off. Low-level threat.
Episode 2/3 - Pure historical on the Oregon trail. Nature of topic lends itself to two-parter.
Episode 4 - Alien world. (No real ideas for this one.)
Episode 5 - Rutans vs Sontarans on a space station (transit hub or refueling station) caught in the crossfire.
Episode 6 - Entirely in TARDIS. Companions need a breather, so the Doctor shows them around. Allows for building the relationship between father and history teacher.
Episode 7/8 - Return “home”. UNIT story, new alien. Father and history teacher stay behind having fallen in love. Alien goes with Doctor.
Episode 9 - Alien world. New monster.
Episode 10 - Modern Earth with the plot dealing with something from English folklore.
Episode 11 - Peladon story.
Episode 12/13 - Alien world. Alien companion stays behind to help with rebuilding.
Season 5
Episode 1 - New companion: male human, 25-ish, American from somewhere on the west coast (Washington, Oregon, California) on vacation in England.
Episode 2 - Alien world. Swamps, reptilian species.
Episode 3 - Pure historical: Hawaii.
Episode 4/5 - Modern Earth: UNIT story. Returning threat.
Episode 6 - Alien world.
Episode 7 - Alien world. Avian species.
Episode 8/9 - Populated space station. Terrorist attack.
Episode 10 - Pseudo-historical: Alaskan Gold Rush.
Episode 11/12/13 - Modern-day Earth. UNIT, the previous companions, Silurians (they’re the good guys here and working with UNIT), time experiments, dinosaurs. Doctor saves the day, but feedback from shutting down time experiments causes regeneration. Make a three-parter to be epic regeneration story as well as to stretch the budget. General plot is kind of a cross between Invasion of the Dinosaurs and the TV show Primeval.
Very cool Ideas here! I do vote for you as the next Showrunner, do you happen to get to RTD’s Basement, perhaps? If so, do it and become the next Showrunner!
Actually the more I think about it, I would like to give something like that a similar Go, you wouldn’t mind if I did my own Post with some of my own Ideas?
Also thank god for the pure Historicals return! 
So that’s my five-season run of a new Doctor. Over the course of those five seasons, we get five new companions but not in a one-a-season way, we get more alien worlds, a mix of new and returning monsters, the companions aren’t in the current New Who mold of twenty-something British female, we still return to present-day England but not as often, and we bring back the pure historical without losing the pseudo-historical. I stuck with the more modern statute of single episodes and two-parters as opposed to going back to serialized storytelling. I decided that a three-part epic would work great for a regeneration story. I also killed off a companion and made it stick and mean something.
Not at all, feel free to make your own post and leave this one discussion of this hypothetical run.
Lovely! As I see, you did take some wishes into account from the other Thread, which is rather lovely of you to do! Yeah, a Three Parter Regeneration would certainly be epic and a nice change, after getting only singular Episodes for Regenerations in recent time (well depending on how you count World Enough/Doctor Falls to Twice, I guess)
Thank you! Yeah, that’s very fair, do you got already some Ideas for what kind of Doctor you would go for, Character wise that is?
I can come up with ideas and while I consider myself to be a fairly decent prose writer, I have no idea where to start writing TV scripts. And keeping something a certain length without running too long or too short is something I have absolutely no experience in doing. If I were to be showrunner (and I’m in no way campaigning for the job), I’d want to be co-showrunner with someone who actually knew what they were doing.
I don’t know. It’s not something I’ve really given much thought too. Most of my Doctor Who fan writing (very, very little actually on paper, most just in my head) has been with 1-15.
Totally valid, if I was showrunner I would hope I do get somebody to take the Show with me. I am not sure where I would place myself as a prose writer, considering I’d love writing and usually try to keep a format of a certain amount of Pages consistent, so I think I’d be decent at it.
Ah, very fair! Perhaps over time you get a more clear picture about it! Excited to hear what kind of Doctor you do, considering the overall Pitch, I find somebody similar to 5 would work fine, I think? But maybe that’s just at first glance. Also, did you ever post any of your writing for any of the existing Doctors on here? If not, I am sure me and many others would love to have a read at it, if you feel comfortable with it!
No I haven’t. And I’m not even sure if the couple things I did write even still exist as they were done at some point pre-Covid on older computers to the one I’m using now.
In the companions for this run, I wanted to break the mold. So we have five companions over five seasons, but they stay long enough to get to know them and have arcs.
Companion #1: Irish Father, mid-40s to mid-50s in age, single (wife died), has twenty-something daughter he’s still close with. Main: S1-2 | Recurring: S3-4
Companion #2: Irish woman, twenty-something, still close with father (might even still live at home), maybe a career/maybe still in university. Main: S1-2 (Dies in Season 2 finale)
Companion #3: Alien female, twenty-something. Unsure of design. Forms close friendship with Companion #2. Main: S2-S4
Companion #4: Middle-aged (40s/50s) English female history teacher, maybe from London, maybe from other city. Teaches highschool history. Develops relationship with Companion #1. Main: Mid-S3 - Mid-S4
Companion #5: Male human, 25-ish. American from somewhere on the west coast. Played by American actor (no dodgy accents!). Main: S5
I was looking for a Hawai’i set Doctor Who story the other day and couldn’t find one. I think that it would be a great setting for Doctor Who!
For my historicals, I wanted places that weren’t just England. I totally get that Doctor Who is a British show and that the UK is rich in history, but I wanted to get back to the Hartnell era of educational stories set in more exotic, less well-known periods and places. And I thought Hawaii would be a great place for an American companion.
I also threw in two Peladon episodes just because it’s such a rich tapestry and I’d love to see what could be done on a modern budget.
This thread reminds me of the “Pitch your Doctor Who Era” thread. I’ve created the “showrunner fantasy” tag to tie them together. I hope that’s all right with you. 