‘Doctor Who’ is back with new adventures and a brand-new villain that has everyone talking.
Drag queen Jinkx Monsoon recently revealed that showrunner Russell T. Davies created the villain Maestro with her in mind. She told BBC that one of her shows made Davies think she was the perfect fit for this new role:
“I have been friends with Russell T. Davies for a long time. He has been to so much of my stuff, and always been so supportive. He came to see my show in Manchester, which is a farce set in the future. … Russell told me after he saw that show, he was walking home that night and he realized he wanted me to play the role that I ended up playing in ‘Doctor Who.’ At that moment, he started writing the role a little bit more with me in mind. When I got the script, the character’s description said, ‘One part the Joker, one part Jinkx Monsoon.'”
Russell T. Davies has a long history with ‘Doctor Who.’ He worked on the show from 2005 to 2010 before returning last year.
Davies Thinks There Are No Changes In His Writing
Davies claims that the way he writes stories for ‘Doctor Who’ hasn’t changed much:
“I think, in many ways, writing doesn’t change. Writing fundamentally doesn’t change. And when I’m at my desk, I don’t think, oh, it’s a new era now I’m writing things differently. “
What has changed, however, are the special effects, he says. And it’s thanks to a bigger budget from the show’s new partnership with Disney+.
The new season has a scene in 1960s London where the Doctor (now played by Ncuti Gatwa) faces off against Maestro. Monsoon shares that playing a villain like Maestro was fun because the character is very powerful and does whatever she wants:
“One of the scariest things about a villain is when you don’t know what they’re going to do next, when you have no way of reading them, when they’re smiling at you but they’re about to attack. I think that’s what Russell saw in my show.”
‘Doctor Who’ is currently streaming on Disney+, with new episodes releasing every Friday, and on the BBC every Saturday.
