Back in the TARDIS: Russell T. Davies Is Returning to Doctor Who

The modern incarnation—or incarnations—of the classic BBC fantasy Doctor Who owes a lot to Russell T. Davies. The writer and producer revived the show in 2005 after the series last aired in 1989. With Doctors Christopher Eccleston and David Tennant, Davies is widely credited with reigniting interest in the series.

According to Variety, Davies is not done with the Doctor just yet. After departing from the series in 2010, he’s set to resume showrunning duties beginning in 2023. It will be the show’s 60th anniversary.

It’s a bit of a departure from the tradition of Doctor Who, which regularly sees a succession of actors as well as showrunners carry on for a few seasons before passing the controls of the Doctor’s time-traveling TARDIS to someone else. After Davies left, Stephen Moffat (Sherlock) assumed control, followed by current showrunner Chris Chibnall. Jodie Whittaker plays the 13th Doctor. Both Chibnall and Whittaker are set to wind down their tenure in 2022, leaving Davies with a clean slate.

“I’m beyond excited to be back on my favorite show,” Davies said in a statement. “But we’re time-traveling too fast, there’s a whole series of Jodie Whittaker’s brilliant Doctor for me to enjoy, with my friend and hero Chris Chibnall at the helm—I’m still a viewer for now.”

“It’s monumentally exciting and fitting that Doctor Who’s 60th anniversary will see one of Britain’s screenwriting diamonds return home,” Chibnall said in a statement. “Russell built the baton that is about to be handed back to him—Doctor Who, the BBC, the screen industry in Wales, and let’s be honest everyone in the whole world, have so many reasons to be Very Excited Indeed about what lies ahead.”

Davies has launched several projects since Doctor Who, including the critically-acclaimed series A Very English Scandal (2018) and It’s a Sin (2021), a drama about the early days of the HIV epidemic in 1980s London.