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The stars and team behind Doctor Who stormed New York Comic Con yesterday. This morning Decider got to sit with star Peter Capaldi and executive producers Steven Moffat and Brian Minchin in a roundtable interview and we got even more details about the upcoming Christmas Special, the bold new direction of the tenth season, and the new companion.
Yesterday, Moffat and Minchin explained to fans that Season Ten will act as almost a reboot to the series, thanks in part to the Doctor’s new companion, Bill (Pearl Mackie). So what new unique layers will Bill bring out in the Doctor and what will she be bringing to Doctor Who?
“It’s a very new take on the Doctor precisely because you’re seeing him through a new set of eyes. We worked really quite hard to work out the angle from which we want to see him,” said Moffat. “As I keep saying, the show isn’t called ‘The Doctor.’ It’s called Doctor Who. It’s about the person who asks the question.”
Capaldi said, “Well, it’s very interesting because the role of Clara (Jenna Coleman) was an intrinsic part of the Doctor’s timeline. And Bill doesn’t — she comes from the real world. So the Doctor has to reintroduce to the audience his kind of weird, cosmic, strange life that he has. So that’s very invigorating to do that again.”
“But also I think, in somewhat of an unspoken way, he’s chosen this person. Although she almost literally stumbles into the TARDIS,” Capaldi said about Bill. “He’s chosen her to bring something into his existence that he wants. That may be a kind of a very fresh and vigorous take on life.”
“Clara knew so much about the Doctor, so to put a new companion with Peter’s ‘Doctor Who,’ you’re literally starting from scratch,” said Minchin. “That’s quite exciting to write.”
Moffat confirmed later that Bill is not only from the “real world,” but she is from the present day.
When another reporter at the roundtable asked if the new season was made more to attract new fans or to keep old fans happy, Moffat joked, “When are fans happy? You know you’re a fan when you decide to watch a show that makes you unhappy.”
Moffat then answered seriously, “We are absolutely always trying to get new people watching Doctor Who. In fact, as we’re always saying, every episode is ‘Episode One’ for somebody. And this year in particular will do that with a new companion and a new beginning for the Doctor in a way. We’re absolutely addressing the new audience. Episode One of this year in particular you can watch if you’ve never seen it before.”
“We’re always trying to get new kids watching — that’s what we really want more than anything,” Moffat added. “You know, old fans like me will show up anyway and explain to new fans that it’s not as good as it used to be. Because that’s what we do.”
Minchin said, “Christmas is coming up first before the new episodes and that’s particularly delightful for everyone. We made it the type of film we love to watch at Christmas: a big superhero story with the Doctor at the center. Everything’s improved by putting the Doctor at the center.”
“I often think that other television programs would be better if they just had ‘Doctor Who’ in them,” Moffat cracked. He then explained, “He’s great, the Doctor, because he explains the plot like the usual expository character, he is the comic relief, and he’s the hero and the romantic lead all at once. And sometimes the damsel in distress! The Doctor is usually spread out amongst six characters. The Doctor is all of them. That’s why the Doctor can do the show on his own.”
The one show Moffat would absolutely never put the Doctor in? His own Sherlock.
The team also revealed that the title of the Christmas special, “The Return of Doctor Mysterio,” is a nod to its international fans in Latin America. Who is called Doctor Mysterio in many Spanish-speaking countries, such as Mexico. It’s a tribute to the fact that the series, which was once considered one of the most “British” of British TV shows, has become a global phenomenon.
“I was really taken by the Latin American response to Doctor Who — it surprised me. But the power of people’s feelings about it really took me aback and the authenticity of those feelings,” Capaldi said to an Argentine reporter in the roundtable. He went on to muse about it and said, “It seems to me there’s a kind of mix up, a soup, of kind of escapism. You know, the idea that no matter how tough or bland or dull or hard life can be, the TARDIS can show up. You know, in the park or mall or in your backyard, and you can escape.”
“It’s not that British culture is popular everywhere. Everyone’s culture is popular everywhere,” Moffat offered.
Season Ten of Doctor Who will premiere on BBC America in 2017.
For more coverage of all things New York Comic Con, including conversations with the casts of War For The Planet Of The Apes, Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, Underworld: Blood Wars and more, visit decider.com/nycc.
