Russell T Davies reveals secret details of three scrapped Doctor Who episodes
Former Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies has opened up about plans for what would have been his new era's third season.
Russell T Davies has revealed details of Jack Thorne's scrapped Doctor Who script written before the show got cancelled.
The former showrunner, who returned in 2023 for his second stint in charge of the show, has opened up about his progress on what would have been the third season of his new era, which included an episode co-written by the man behind shows like This Is England, His Dark Materials and Adolescence.
In his new memoir The Queerest of Folk, Russell revealed that "three scripts were fully written", and "it breaks my heart they won't be seen".
He wrote: "We had a brilliant story set during the Great Fire of London, written by the powerhouse team of Laurence Clark and Jack Thorne, and we should have had the budget to do it properly, with the flames and panic and everything.
"And we had a brutal horror story, written by the brilliant Lydia Adetunji, set on a NASA-type space station, all about trypophobia - look it up, it'll make you shiver!"
Trypophobia is the fear of a pattern of holes, which has been used by shows like American Horror Story in the past.
Russell continued: "There was a really lovely episode set on a council estate in the middle of Manchester.
"That would have been the ultimate place to bring the Doctor; I would have just loved to see that. It was written by Sharma Angel-Walfall, who's lived that life. It was like Doctor Who meets the film Rocks."
The 63-year-old screenwriter had also been talking to other writers for the upcoming season, and he planned to bring back Juno Dawson and Kate Herron, who worked on The Interstellar Song Content and Rogue episodes since his Doctor Who return.
Russell explained that his planned episode with Juno and Kate would have seen Jonathan Groff return as Rogue.
He added: "We were talking about Rogue in an eighties story, maybe set in Blackpool with video arcades at its centre.
"So we had a lot of fabulous ideas, some fully fleshed out, with a Dalek four-part epic to end the series. We were ready to go."
Russell's plans, which included a Christmas special never came to fruition after the BBC decided to put the show at to competitive tender.
The deadline for submissions has passed, with several high profile studios reportedly in the running to take over production of the series.
According to Deadline, interested parties include Line of Duty creator Jed Mercurio's HTM, as well as Line of Duty producer World Productions and Scotland's STV Studios.
It's also expected that two different BBC Studios labels will likely be bidding for the show.
The BBC previously urged potential producers to "innovate and surprise" bosses, striking a balance between "high concept science fiction" and "strong emotional narratives".
They added: "We are seeking a creative vision that embraces the breadth of what Doctor Who can be and could be.
"Doctor Who is a show that has sparked conversation, taken risks and inspired audiences for decades and we are looking for this series to continue that tradition.
"Be brave, have fun and we look forward to hearing from you."
