So The End of Time has come to pass, and the David Tennant era of Doctor Who is over, as is that of Executive writer - Russell T. Davies. I will examine the era in more detail at a later date, but for now just a short appraisal.
In 2003, Doctor Who was brought back from Television limbo by Jane Tranter. It had survived intact through successful spin-off book series by Target, Virgin, and the BBC itself; and quality audio adventures by the relatively new production company Big Finish; but in 2005 it was time for it to return once again to it's home format. Today, it is impossible to imagine what the new series of Doctor Who would've been like had Russell T. Davies not accepted the post of Executive Producer/Writer, but thanks to his fresh, original, and entertaining vision, Doctor Who became a success once more, and for the first time had the full backing of the BBC.
Unlike what casual TV journalism will tell you, Doctor Who had far from failed in 1989, and in fact was producing some of it's best work. Those episodes in many cases laid the foundations for what made the revival a great success, and what many loving viewers today take for granted. Russell T. Davies' genius was to expand on those foundations to take Doctor Who into new, fascinating territory, and created one of the best eras of the programme. Sure there were quite a few poor episodes just as there have been in past eras of Doctor Who, and even Russell T. Davies seemed to get a bit self-indulgent a few times, but there were also some great classics too. So, in retrospect, I can safely say Doctor Who would've been much less of a programme without him.
Which all begs the question - what happens next? Leaving aside the tantalising prospect of new Doctor Who fiction coming up, what will the production be like? Steven Moffat, the new head writer and executive producer, despite wanting a completely new start production wise (even going as far as labelling the next series - series 1), is continuing on from the previous episode, and maintaining a lot of the same high-quality standards that were present during the RTD era (such as the brilliant composer Murray Gold). So instead of being a brand new production, it's thankfully going to be a faithful continuation. The only thing that I think will change will be the type of stories being told. Moffat's script techniques are well-known by now, but despite his relatively free reign on some of the stories he has written in the past, it is still unknown as to what Moffat's overall 'vision' for the series is. There are occassional interviews referencing possible influences such as Tim Burton, Pan's Labyrinth, and mythic fairy tales, and that Moffat is heading towards a more traditional 'Who' type of storytelling, but one thing's for sure - it'll certainly be different. And I for one can't wait!
