RTD's second era as Doctor Who showrunner can successfully build on the social messaging of Chris Chibnall's era while avoiding the mistakes of "Orphan 55". Rusell T Davies has already taken over from Chris Chibnall, and is working on Doctor Who's 60th-anniversary specials, and Ncuti Gatwa's first proper series as the Doctor. It was Davies who originally brought Doctor Who back to screens in 2005, and famously commented upon Britain's involvement in Iraq in the fourth and fifth episodes of the rebooted series, which also introduced the farting aliens, the Slitheen.
Doctor Who season 1, episodes 4 and 5, "Aliens of London" and "World War Three" perfectly encapsulate Davies' approach to social and political messaging in Doctor Who. It's a big family adventure - for the kids, there are farting aliens disguised as authority figures, but there is also a satirical swipe at then-Prime Minister Tony Blair's government to keep the parents entertained. Russell T. Davies outlined his contemporary thoughts on addressing politics at the 2022 Climate Creatives conference, and it appears that his thoughts haven't changed all that much. He still believes that Doctor Who can both be politically astute drama and broad family entertainment, two things that the Chris Chibnall era has struggled to balance.
Chris Chibnall Dreamed Doctor Who Could Confront Social Issues
Chris Chibnall is absolutely correct in his belief that Doctor Who can confront social issues. His tenure has seen Doctor Who tackle problematic moments in history that are largely absent from the history syllabus taught in schools. In taking the Doctor and their companions to moments like the Partition of India, Chris Chibnall has stayed true to the original educational remit first placed upon Doctor Who in 1963. Episodes like Doctor Who season 11, episode 3, "Rosa", episode 6, "Demons of the Punjab" and episode 8 "The Witchfinders" have affectingly looked at the poor treatment of marginalized groups through the lens of a contemporary sci-fi show.
Worker's rights in the gig economy, openness about mental health, plastic pollution, and, most notably, climate change are all themes that have been tackled in Chris Chibnall's Doctor Who era. Season 12, episode 3, "Orphan 55" is a story that takes place on Earth after it's been ravaged by global warming. It received criticism for the way in which the writer and climate change activist Ed Hime stopped the story a few minutes early to allow the Doctor to directly deliver a lecture to the viewers at home. This embodied the problem with Chris Chibnall's approach; that the mixture of Doctor Who's political elements and action-adventure elements wasn't always cohesive.
RTD's Doctor Who Can Fulfill Chibnall's Vision
The "Orphan 55" speech is a moment that RTD tactfully stepped around during the Climate Creatives conference when, in reference to both climate change and the problems of writing about it for Doctor Who, he said (via Doctor Who episode "Aliens of London"; it's about putting adventure and entertainment first, while not ignoring the issues.
Davies is a fiercely political writer, and that fierceness has only become greater while he's been away from Doctor Who. His drama It's A Sin about the AIDS epidemic was broadcast at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and laid bare both historical and contemporary government failures. Social messaging won't leave with Chris Chibnall and Jodie Whittaker, but through RTD, it will more seamlessly fit into the sort of broad, entertaining sci-fi adventures that audiences expect from the show.