Russell T. Davies Will Release New 'Doctor Who' Material For The Revival's 15th Anniversary
15 years ago, Doctor Who returned to our screens after a 16-year hiatus. And it was like the time-traveling alien had never left. With its highly anticipated premiere episode "Rose," Doctor Who reinvented itself for a new generation of sci-fi lovers and kick-started a whole new era that is still going strong today.
In celebration of the 15th anniversary of the premiere of "Rose," former showrunner Russell T. Davies will share new Doctor Who material in a live-watch event held on Twitter.
Live-tweeting movies have become all the rage for filmmakers and their audiences who are stuck at home due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis. And TV is no exception. This past weekend, the BBC got in on the live-tweeting action with a special live-watch of the 50th anniversary special, "The Day of the Doctor," with writer and former showrunner Steven Moffat temporarily rejoining Twitter for the occasion. Moffat even wrote a special introduction for Strax the Sontaran for actor Dan Starkey to perform. Now, Russell T. Davies, who helped launch the modern series in 2005, will be following in Moffat's footsteps with a live-watch event of "Rose," complete with brand new Doctor Who material.Radio Times reports that to mark the 15th anniversary of the show's modern return this week, Davies will join Twitter for the first time to live-tweet the very first episode of his era on the show, "Rose."
"LIVE TWEET, this Thursday 26 March, 7pm UK time, 'Rose,' for its 15th anniversary," Davies posted on his Instagram. "Available on iPlayer and Netflix. Apparently, I'll have to join twitter for this. I blame you [Steven Moffat]. For everything. Can we swear? Also, surprise extra material released on the day. Exciting! Join in!"
It's unclear what new material Davies will be penning — it could be a short bit for a fan-favorite character (John Barrowman is always down to return as Captain Jack Harkness), or maybe it could even be more scripted scenes that will flesh out Billie Piper's character Rose, who was the audience surrogate in the pilot episode. But it would be most exciting if he got Christopher Eccleston to return briefly to do something — anything — to celebrate the character he revived. Eccleston notoriously left Doctor Who on bad terms after playing the title character for only one season, and hasn't returned to the series since, though the actor has recently shown signs of warming to legacy that he left. Wouldn't it be amazing if he returned to do a new intro or read a new scene?
Well, whatever the new material is, you can bet it will be fantastic.