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Letter from the Showrunner was a monthly feature in Doctor Who Magazine written by Russell T Davies from late 2022 to early 2024, hyping and revealing production information on the ongoing production of Bad Wolf Studios' Doctor Who. It was a successor to Production Notes, a similar column Davies wrote during his previous Who tenure, and continued several traditions from its predecessor.
The title paid homage to A Letter from the Doctor, with each article accompanied by an illustration of Davies imitating the illustration of the Fourth Doctor which accompanied the Doctor's letters for a time.
Starting with DWM 602, following the magazine's change of editorship from Marcus Hearn to Jason Quinn, the feature was succeeded by the more simply formatted Russell T Davies.
Entries[[edit] | [edit source]]
| Issue | Topics | Teases | 3 Words |
|---|---|---|---|
| 584 | How Doctor Who: Lockdown! led to David Tennant and Catherine Tate returning. | The first scene of episode 7 of the new series has the setting "INT. COFFEE BAR, USA – DAY, 1947". | Special One: "westerly", "pelican", "dreams" |
| 585 | The return of Davies' Twelve Days of Christmas list. | The tenth scene of episode 2 of the new series is "INT. CANTEEN. DAY." An unannounced project with an eight-word title is hinted at. And a line of dialogue from Special One: "Oh, Nerys and her big fat mouth!" Davies also mentions he is writing 2024's Christmas Special at Christmastime. | Special Two: "wild", "Southampton", "vegetable", "Flux", "bean", "starlight" |
| 586 | The second part of the story of Tennant and Tate's return. | Cryptic talk of things that haven't yet been publicly revealed. | None |
| 587 | The creation of the 2022 Christmas Day trailer. | The identity of the guest star walking into the toyshop with his back to the camera, who is described as "lovely". | None |
| 588 | The Sarah Jane Adventures becoming available on iPlayer. | None | None |
| 589 | Julie Gardner needing help finding silver glitter body spray for the BAFTAs. Davies retells an encounter between himself and a drag queen first mentioned in DWM 349's Production Notes. | Writing episode eight, Davies was stuck on scenes 20-22 while deciding whether a "vital object" should remain in the Ops Room or "get moved to the Chamber". | None |
| 590 | How the production team decides when to release information in advance, and the casting of Jinkx Monsoon. | The title of an episode of the upcoming series was spoken aloud in a third-season episode of Star Trek: Picard. | None |
| 591 | The creation of the teasers announcing the titles of the 2023 specials, and how titles are chosen. | Clarification that the title of Episode One of the next series was the one spoken aloud on Picard. Another episode has had three titles so far without a decision, and one title contained "sixpence" until a plot involving the coin was cut. Bad Wolf's Script and Legal departments were investigating whether or not the show could use a certain title for Episode Six of the 2025 season. | None |
| 592 | The progress of production on the upcoming episodes, and a message from a fan about how the show impacted their life. | The Star Beast almost finished, Episode Eight hasn't started filming yet. Four scripts from the 2025 season are being written simultaneously. | Episode Eight: "kingdom", "gold", "Tigella"
2025 episode: "garden", "firmament", "diploma" |
| 593 | The production of Episode Eight's Scene 27B, including a giant statue head. | The scene in question includes a famous guest star kept secret from the public. | None |
| 594 | The last day of filming for the 2024 season. | Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson's last filmed scene for that season is set aboard the TARDIS. Yasmin Finney also wrapped a few days before. | None |
| 595 | Watching The Star Beast from a fan's perspective. | The Star Beast had recently been completed. | None |
| 596 | Dates to look out for regarding the 60th anniversary, and the archive coming to iPlayer. | Teases about the contents of the specials, and November 1, 17, and 23. A six-day shoot in September of material to be released soon. The 2025 season is about to shoot, with five of nine scripts done. | None |
| 597 | "Seismic Shifts" across the history of the show. | Rehearsals with a guest star for the 13th episode. Sets for a hotel, a hospital, and a "Chamber" under construction. | 2025 episode: "radiation", "moth", "skiffle" |
| 598 | The 2023 Twelve Days of Christmas. | Scene 11 of Episode 1 of Gatwa's first season begins "INT. CONTROL ROOM", with stage directions "THE DOCTOR and RUBY walk in to find a cool, sleek, metal CONTROL ROOM, full of CONSOLES." Episode six, written by Kate Herron and Briony Redman, contains a character named Emily saying "I am ruined!" Another mention of the project with the eight-word title from the previous year's list, as it had been delayed, but now has two scripts written and a third on the way. One of the revealed six words is in the episode's title. Season 2 has four writers besides Davies. And a title reveal for The Devil's Chord. | Episode 8: "terror", "dust", "pizza", "Einstein", "death", "opera" |
| 599 | "Very well", and the launch of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Doctors. | None | None |
| 600 | The production progress of episodes coming up in 2024 and 2025. | Season 1 is moving closer to being complete in time for May. The 2024 Christmas special is shot and ready for FX. For season 2, episodes 1 and 4 have been mostly shot, episode 3 is about to shoot, others are in the queue, and episode 8 is about to be written. | None |
| 601 | The production of Tales of the TARDIS, and meeting cast members from the classic series. | The sets up in Wolf Studios, including Ruby and Carla's flat and the UNIT Ops Room, both of which are about to "spring back into life"; the "remnants" of the 2024 Christmas special; a set "so real" it could be rented out as its actual self; and a "labyrinthine" set. | None |