Doctor Who’s Executive Producer on 60th Specials: We Don’t Need to do Multi-Doctors, It’s Been Done
Phil Collinson seems to have all but confirmed that no other Doctors will appear in any of the 60th anniversary specials.
In an interview with SFX, the returning Executive Producer was asked how much of Doctor Who “legacy” can be expected in the specials, and he responded: “Obviously, for fans Beep the Meep is a big thing that goes right back to early fandom – the ’70s and the beginning of that time when it felt like Doctor Who started to turn from being a show that people watched into being magazines and toys and whatever, so there’s definitely that in the first one.
“I think with David and Catherine, as I say, they’re very cleverly looking back but also looking forward. Then in special three, there’s tons of nostalgia. There’s UNIT, there’s a fantastic big baddie coming back who looks right back to the very early days of the show, and he’s completely reinvented. It does feel like a massive celebration.”
He continues: “Having said all of that, we all feel like the best way of celebrating something is making it feel brilliant and relevant today. It’s definitely a very forward-looking show. There’ll be all sorts of stuff going around the anniversary as well, other things that celebrate, so there’s enough in these three specials. There’s definitely enough for it to feel like we’re celebrating the whole history of the show without it being all five Doctors coming together to defeat the Master or whatever.”
He then elaborates, which leads to the key part of the quote: “It’s all definitely about wanting to look forward, but as I think Russell does so brilliantly, it’s not looking forward without forgetting where you came from. Because you just can’t with this show. He flies around in a blue box and, like I say, the enemy they face is someone who goes right back to almost the genesis of the show – so it’s definitely there. It’s just not multi-Doctors. I love multi-Doctor shows. But we don’t need to do it, it’s been done.”
Of course there’s a chance we may get a cameo or two like with Tom Baker in the 50th, but sounds like it’s probably best not to get our hopes up too high…
