A new memoir by Russell T Davies is heading to bookshops (and gigawarehouses) near you, and the now former executive producer of Doctor Who has dedicated some words to the final few months of his second stint on the show.

An excerpt from the book has been published in the Guardian, and it covers everything from Disney+ to Billie Piper, not to mention leakers, fandom, and the BBC’s Royal Charter agreement. (The main book probably includes something about Ncuti Gatwa quitting, but that isn’t included in the Guardian excerpt.)

RTD on Disney

The main takeaway is Davies’ recollections on what was happening between the BBC and Disney.

…we had to make these final episodes not knowing whether the Disney deal would be renewed. That was nothing to do with us at [independent production company] Bad Wolf; it was down to conversations with Disney and the BBC. So we had no idea what was going on. Deep down I thought it wouldn’t.

(Having spent a lot of time over the years watching and analysing Doctor Who, the events surrounding the Disney deal never really sat comfortably with me. It’s all felt like a bit of a mad adventure — a bit like the production of Planet of the Dead, which I was admittedly very critical of at the time, but on a far larger scale.)

After deciding that the end of the 15th Doctor would scare children (apparently an open-ended regeneration is “like a death”), a meeting was held, and Billie Piper’s name came up…

We need someone to be there. Someone for him to physically regenerate into in front of our eyes. We decided the Doctor should regenerate into … Billie Piper!

Leakers, Charters, Stalkers

The excerpt also includes details on the written/unwritten script for the 2026 Christmas special, the tangible creation of which is neither confirmed not denied. But the passage also provides information about the situation concerning leakers, BBC politics, and while the Disney decision isn’t analysed (and we don’t know if it is elsewhere in the book), the impact of the Royal Charter. Also, Russell takes the credit for pulling the 2026 Christmas special, something that would have kept him very busy.

That’s the highlights, but this being RTD, almost every other line is a zinger so I recommend you head over to the Guardian and read it yourself. There’s also an interview with the writer which includes a worrying account of a visitor to his home…