Features

Where did the idea for 'Space Babies' come from?

Showrunner Russell T Davies discusses his ideas for Season 1's stories in the latest issue of Doctor Who Magazine...

Where do space babies come from? The Doctor and Ruby Sunday will find out when Season 1 begins in May, but the idea for upcoming story Space Babies is one of many that showrunner Russell T Davies had planned for his return to Doctor Who. In a new interview with Doctor Who Magazine, Russell discusses where the idea came from, as well as what to expect from the episode, and more!

The latest edition of Doctor Who Magazine (DWM) is on sale from Thursday 25th April. It is available to order as a subscription, either physical or digital, here.

Read an excerpt from issue 603 below...

DWM 603 Body

Russell T Davies on Space Babies:

“A new show needs a big hook. I thought of the babies on my first day at Bad Wolf Studios [where Doctor Who is made]. There must have been something on TV the night before about baby farms or something, sparking this idea that made me laugh of a baby farm run by actual babies.

“The episode isn’t all about space babies. There are often three things going on in any Doctor Who. It’s a bit like plate-spinning, keeping it all in motion. This has got space babies and a monster, so it’s a science-fiction story with mystery and suspense. But it’s also the personal story of Ruby finding out who she is and where she’s from – which will be the spine of this series. We’ve seen she has a very happy family with a wonderful adoptive mother but feels that urge to find out the truth about her past. That’s a great story for any drama. I don’t often give a companion so strong a story… but it’s all heading somewhere, just you wait.”

Find out more in the latest issue of Doctor Who Magazine.
 

DWM 603

Inside this month's magazine:

  • Previews of the new episodes broadcast this month. Russell T Davies talks Space Babies and The Devil’s Chord and we take a quick peek behind the scenes of Boom with writer Steven Moffat and exec producer Joel Collins.
  • Meet the Beatles – John, Paul, George and Ringo (alias Chris Mason, George Caple, Philip Davies and James Hoyles) and their producer George Martin (Ed White)…
  • …and to celebrate the Beatles' appearance on opening night of the new season, we also look back at the relationship between the band and Doctor Who over the years…
  • Jinkx Monsoon discusses her role as the malevolent Maestro.
  • Can we get any answers from Anita Dobson about her character, the mysterious Mrs Flood? Worth a try!
  • Letter from the Showrunner – Russell T Davies considers the scheduling of the new episodes and welcomes new readers!
  • Script to screen – discover the intricacies involved in bringing ‘Jimbo’ – the robot from Wild Blue Yonder – into being.
  • A tribute to the work of the late Sid Sutton who, among many other career highlights, designed the Doctor Who titles in the 1980s.
  • We test the memory of Matthew Waterhouse, who played companion Adric.
  • Time-Space Visualiser – how Second Doctor Patrick Troughton made a partial comeback in the late seventies…
  • Loose Ends – tying up some dangling threads from the 1960s
  • The Fact of Fiction – a scene-by-scene look back at an earlier opening night: 2007’s Smith and Jones.
  • The concluding part of Mancopolis – our comic strip featuring the Fifteenth Doctor and Ruby.
  • PLUS! An exclusive comic strip supplement featuring TIMESLIP – the memorable multi-Doctor comic strip by former DWM editor Paul Neary. This also includes an essay on the story by Gary Gillatt and a chat with Dez Skinn who came up with the original idea for the strip.
  • Two art cards to celebrate the new season!

The latest edition of Doctor Who Magazine (DWM) is on sale from Thursday 25th April. It is available to order as a subscription, either physical or digital, here.

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