Doctor Who Is Bringing Back An Innovative Writer

Doctor Who has been running for more than 60 years, but its spinoffs have never really taken off in the same way. The Sarah Jane Adventures and Torchwood only lasted a few seasons each, and an infamous K-9 spinoff took forever to produce a single year’s worth of episodes.

But perhaps the most frustrating Doctor Who spinoff is Class, a young-adult-focused spinoff meant to introduce the Who-niverse to a new generation. It showed potential, but only lasted one season. Now, however, one of its writers is coming back, and they’re bringing some new ideas with them.

Doctor Who recently announced multiple writers for its upcoming Season 2, which follows a 2023 reboot that introduced Ncuti Gatwa as the Doctor. The new directors include playwright Inua Ellams, TV veteran Pete McTighe, and Supacell’s Sharma Angel-Walfall. But the most interesting of the new writers is Juno Dawson, a bestselling author who has a history with the show.

Dawson was originally supposed to write a Ferris Bueller’s Day Off homage focused on a single character for Season 2 of Class, but that never came to fruition. Dawson later wrote Doctor Who: Redacted, a podcast series following the Thirteenth Doctor as she investigates a mystery involving her friends being erased from history.

Dawson’s talents will be a boon for the series, and Dawson will be the first openly trans writer of a Doctor Who episode. The show’s current iteration has made an effort to include more trans talent, including Yasmin Finney as Donna Noble’s daughter Rose, and Jinkx Monsoon as the non-binary villain Maestro. Even the Doctor is, essentially, a trans character, as their gender expression changes with each reincarnation. Dawson’s inclusion honors that fact, and they’re certainly qualified for the gig. Now we’ll just have to wait and see if we get that Ferris Bueller episode after all, or if the series will move on to something new.

Doctor Who is streaming on Disney+.