Posted in: BBC, Doctor Who, Preview, TV | Tagged: bbc, doctor who, preview

Doctor Who Confirms Series 14 Currently "Unaffected" by WGA Strike

Speaking with RadioTimes.co, a spokesperson for Doctor Who confirmed that Series 14 is currently "unaffected" by the WGA writers' strike.

While we've been getting some great updates on how things are looking with new Doctor Ncuti Gatwa, new companion Millie Gibson (Ruby Sunday), and showrunner Russell T. Davies as the cameras roll on a new series of adventures, a very real-world reality kicked in this week that has fans wondering – and worrying. Now on its third day, the WGA/AMPTP writers' strike that's currently hitting film & television productions in the U.S. has fans wondering if it will impact production on the long-running series. Issuing a statement to RadioTimes.com, a spokesperson for the show confirmed that "'Doctor Who' is unaffected by the WGA strikes."

Though Disney+ is involved with the production, the writers are British and (along with Davies) would fall under the Writers' Guild of Great Britain (WGGB), which is not on strike. That said, the WGGB stands in solidarity with the WGA and has warned its membership from taking jobs where the WGA has main labor union supervision. "We continue to show our solidarity with our sister union and their members in the US as they embark on industrial action to secure fair pay, decent working conditions and to gain their rightful share in the future financial successes of their work," shared WGGB chair Lisa Holdsworth.

Button, Kingsley & Talalay on Doctor Who 60th Anniversary Episodes

Episode directors Chanya Button, Tom Kingsley & Rachel Talalay shared their reactions to first reading Davies's scripts. "Each special has a really different flavour. It feels like Russell [T. Davies] flexing his muscles and showing all the different things 'Doctor Who' can do," Kingsley shared – a sentiment shared by all three directors. Here's a look at some of the highlights:

Kingsley Discusses "Absolute Nightmare" Episode, Teases "Aliens" & "The Thing" Comparison: "I opened mine and just tore through it. Even as a reading experience, it was so exciting. But I kind of got to the end of it and thought, 'Well, I pity whoever has to direct that cos it's an absolute nightmare!' I was planning to email my agent the next day and say, "It's amazing, but… no way." But when I woke up the next morning, I was still thinking about it, and I started to figure out: 'Well, how could you actually do this?' Because a lot of my episode is quite weird. Even at the readthrough, Rachel, your episode went down so well, and I was really jealous of you getting to direct it. Because there are so many complicated stage directions in mine, the reaction in the room was a bit like, 'Um, sorry, what?' Which made me think it was going to be a disaster. But of course, when you come to film it, it's actually really cool. It's got a lot of similarities with two of my favourite films, 'Aliens' and 'The Thing.' It's a little bit of the DNA of those mixed in with 'Doctor Who.'"

Talalay Read All Three & Outlines Some Key Differences Between Them: "I read all three, and my first reaction was, 'Wow!' The first one is classic family 'Who.' It's bringing back that world that Russell left [in 2010] with David and Catherine. And then after that, it becomes much more expansive, with Russell really throwing his massive imagination at it while also being thoughtful about setting up the next series.

Talalay's Episode Allowed Director a Chance to Embrace "The Stuff That Scares You": "My episode features lots of people in lots of scenes. There's soldiers, there's battles, and I thought, 'I haven't always succeeded in doing the action stuff, with loads of extras, that well in the past. This is really scary for me.' So I was determined to do that part really, really well. It's all about embracing the stuff that scares you."

Button's Episode "Was Just the Most Expansive Thing" That the Director Has Ever Read: "It was just the most expansive thing I've ever read. Every page I turned, it was a different world and a different idea and a different sort of bonkers and inspiring adventure. It was just the ultimate luxury to read it and go, 'This is a writer at the very peak of his abilities, completely unbound and confident in what he's putting on the page.' Which, as a director, is really empowering. It's challenging, in the most positive way possible, for someone to go: 'Here's a big idea; let's see how you do it.'"

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