Doctor Who: Mike Bartlett to Write for Series Ten
By David Hill
We already knew that Mark Gatiss was coming back to write an episode for Series Ten of Doctor Who. Now, we get a new face in the Whoniverse, and Mike Bartlett will make his debut writing for the show in the upcoming series.
Series Ten is set to begin filming soon, and we learned last week that Mark Gatiss is writing an episode for this season. We have seen images of a readthrough, with Peter Capaldi and Pearl Mackie having their names next to a fresh Doctor Who script. Familiar faces are coming back, and new faces are set to join the Whoniverse. It is quite the exciting time for news.
One of those new faces will be Mike Bartlett. He has made quite the name for himself in the first season of Doctor Foster, giving us the wonderfully darker character of Dr. Gemma Foster, whose seemingly perfect life is beginning to unravel, forcing her down a dark path. His upcoming show for the BBC, Press, is a critical examination of the world of modern print media. He is also a playwright, having written the upcoming Wild, based on whistleblower Edward Snowden.
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In a way, it sounds as though Bartlett would be perfect with Capaldi’s Doctor. Series Nine was wonderful given its dark feel and subversive themes — a style more befitting the Twelfth Doctor than the somewhat more lighthearted tone of Series Eight. While Steven Moffat has said that this upcoming series will have a different feel than last year, the inclusion of Bartlett to the writing corps may well signal that at least part of Series Ten will have a similar gravity.
We can certainly hope that is the case. The Twelfth Doctor is at his best in that type of episode, using his wits against the enemy and indulging in his more calculating side. That style would certainly mesh well with the sort that Bartlett has displayed on Doctor Foster, making this a potentially perfect match.
Next: Doctor Who Series Ten News – June 14th, 2016