The BBC Writers section of its website now contains a selection of scripts from Doctor Who and beyond.
BBC Writers is a wonderful resource for anybody interested in the mechanics of making scripted television. You can find hundreds of scripts in its archive. From classic drama like Accused and children’s shows like The Story Of Tracy Beaker to feature films like Blue Story, In The Loop and Rye Lane, it provides a fascinating insight into British film and television production.
The BBC has now revealed a new Whoniverse section, which contains not only a selection of Doctor Who scripts from Rose right up to date with The Church On Ruby Road, you can also find scripts for Torchwood, The Sarah Jane Adventures, Tales Of The TARDIS, Class, animated adventures The Infinite Quest and Dreamland, and VR game The Runaway. One of the most intriguing new additions is the Fifteenth Doctor’s audition script by Russell T. Davies.
You can also watch archive video interviews with showrunners Davies, Steven Moffat and Chris Chibnall, as well as writer Toby Whithouse. One of the most interesting inclusions is a seven part video question and answer session with Moffat and script editor Nick Lambon which covers everything from story structure to rewriting and working with script notes.
In some Doctor Who adjacent news, Ncuti Gatwa, whose first full series as The Doctor will air in May, has been cast in a television adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s Strangers On A Train.
Filming for Gatwa’s second series is currently underway, making the first time production has been a full series ahead. As anybody who has read Davies’ and Benjamin Cook’s wonderful tome The Writer’s Tale will know, delivering finished Who scripts from 2005 to 2010 wasn’t just down to the wire, it went past it and then some. Here’s joping there’s a similar volume covering Davies’ second stint as showrunner.
You can browse the Writersroom Doctor Who collection here.
