Ian Mason

Cat servant, lawyer, CAFC, chess, film, Dr Who, Big Finish, crime fiction, views expressed are personal

[MrTARDIS @TrilbeeReviews]

My copy of RTD's Memoir arrived today; The Queerest of Folk.

A few quick observations that stood out to my on his chapter about Bad Wolf/Disney 'Doctor Who'.

- When Disney agreed to co-produce the show, the execs had never watched 'Doctor Who' and didn't know anything about it. They didn't even know about 'Blink'.

- RTD cites as one of the biggest reasons the era didn't work (or "destroyed the profile of the show", in his words) was because of the online leaks. Needless to say, I disagree.

- RTD had already written Episode 1 of 'The War Between The Land and the Sea' before the reveal of 'Legend of the Sea Devils' (January 1st 2022). Completely unrelated creatively.

- RTD admits it was "a confused launch" having the new era begin with a 60th Anniversary trilogy. "I think that fucked it from the start".

- Ncuti Gatwa's casting announcement before the BAFTA TV Awards was done to pre-empt a potential leak (I called this at the time!).

- '73 Yards' and 'Dot and Bubble' were relatively last minute writing jobs. Due to delays filming 'Sex Education', Ncuti started 3 months later than planned so these Doctor-lite scripts were written. They were not originally in the 8-episode pitch sold to Disney and there is no mention of what the original Episode 4 and Episode 5 were.

- Reflecting on his 2 Series, in particular the story of Ruby Sunday, if he has regrets or notes he doesn't mention them. He considers the run to be "magnificent".

- The show's budget was significantly lower than 'His Dark Materials'. The crew had to learn "how to downscale".

- There's an odd moment where he mentions "fixing problems on the spot" and then immediately talks about casting Belinda and "parking" Ruby. Was Millie Gibson considered a problem to be fixed? This is never elaborated on.

- 3 Episodes of Season 3 were fully written.
1) A Great Fire of London story by Laurence Clark and Jack Thorne.
2) A Brutal NASA Space Station Story by Lydia Adetunji.
3) A "lovely" episode set in a Manchester Council Estate by Sharma Angel-Walfall.
RTD wanted Juno Dawson to write another episode and was in talks with Kate Herron and Briony Redman to bring Jonathan Groff back as Rogue. "That sequel was forever getting postponed".

- Season 3 would have ended with a "Dalek four-part epic".

- There's no mention of 'The Reality War' reshoots. "We knew Ncuti was leaving", he claims, like it was always the plan.

- Regarding the 2026 Xmas Special Press Release; "I allowed my name to go on a press release that I actually felt kind of queasy about. That'll teach me!".

- "I didn't even get a contract to write the Christmas Special until the end of March 2026" (it was announced in Oct 2025).

- "I'll spend a year working on this, but it'll all be leaked before it gets on air...why bother?"

- According to Russell, the timeline was; Announce Xmas Special, Put The Show Out To Tender, Then Make The Special To Bridge the Gap, Fulfill The Tender.

There's a lot more in the chapter (which follows a previous 214 pages of information) but those are the things that stood out to me.

RTD may have his own private opinions, but in this book, it seems he has no creative regrets.

[SFX magazine @SFXmagazine]

Steven Spielberg returned to the subject of extraterrestrials this summer with a new sci-fi thriller. Disclosure Day is out now on 4K UHD, Blu-ray and DVD. We have five Blu-rays to give away. To enter, RT this. We’ll pick 5 winners on Wed 7 October.

[Ian Mason @MrDVader]

@MarkTWIC @PHChess Congratulations Mark, a great resource.

[Ian Mason @MrDVader]

@Beathhigh @Filmhouse Agree, it is excellent and quite unique.

[Ian Mason @MrDVader]

@John_Dabell You are inspirational John!

[Ian Mason @MrDVader]

@DavidMuttering @mcdermottkc_ Does Michael come to Equity with clean paws?

[Ian Mason @MrDVader]

Autumnal crime gems from Croatia, America and the UK https://t.co/a2pi8mGRAP via @Mrs_Pea68

[Rick Everitt @airmanbrown]

NEW: Where Are They Now 2026 - Simon Matthews annual update on the latest clubs of former #cafc players for Voice of The Valley has now been published: https://t.co/oqIehOBxe1

It's a lot of detail, so if you spot any errors as at 7/9/26 then reply or email [email protected]

[Rick Everitt @airmanbrown]

Match report: Stoke City 4 Charlton 0 #cafc https://t.co/2MJF5kO7gj

[Ian Mason @MrDVader]

@TheChessShopUK @AnnaCramling @TelegraphChess Enjoyed my visit to you earlier this week.

[Ian Mason @MrDVader]

@airmanbrown Great to see you are back Rick

[Ian Mason @MrDVader]

@bletchleypark Looks good. Looking forward to my next visit as a BP member

[Charlton Athletic FC @CAFCofficial]

Peter Garland's been hard at work on Deadline Day 👷‍♂️

#cafc

[Ian Mason @MrDVader]

@ChessAndBridge See you soon!

[NM Dan Heisman @danheisman]

Today's video is New Chess Students' Common Concerns https://t.co/sWRctReMO3. I address issues I commonly hear on first lessons. I think it's a good/helpful video so help me pass the word!😎 #Chess #chesspunks #ChessVideo #Chessdojo #ChessLesson

[Ian Mason @MrDVader]

@dysonjeremy Totally agree

[Ian Mason @MrDVader]

@hellothisisivan Esther Rantzen?

[Ian Mason @MrDVader]

@JohnMartinPugh I thought it was very original, rather good.

[John Saunders @johnchess]

21-year-old Henry Adams (FIDE 2174, untitled) has won the 5th Kingston Invitation chess tournament with a score of 7½ out of 9 ahead of 1 GM and 3 IMs. An outstanding result https://t.co/wEV32VV1lD

[DWAS ONLINE @DWASonline]

Here are a few preview pages from our new publication, Doctor Who 70-79!

For further information and to purchase, please visit:

https://t.co/c967rwFcY7