The initial response to this radical change to the show’s formula was slightly mixed, with some fans excited by the storytelling opportunities and others concerned it could sap some of the emotional impact from a Doctor ending their tenure.
While speaking to RadioTimes.com and other press about his new Beyond Paradise role, the conversation inevitably shifted to Doctor Who – and Davison gave his candid thoughts on the twist.
“Well, the bi-generation is an interesting concept. I don’t quite know why they did that,” he began. “Speaking as an actor, it might be because Russell T Davies had said that he wanted to create a kind of ‘Whoniverse’.
“And the thing I don’t really quite understand – I’m a huge fan of Doctor Who, but I’m not as mad a fan as, say, David Tennant – and the bi-generation basically apparently means that my Doctor still exists.”
Davison continued: “So I can be brought back at any point, even as my older self, to do a Doctor Who story. I think that was the intention.
“He caught the ire of a few of the fans because of this very fact, that it suddenly meant no Doctor ever actually regenerated. There was always just another one grew out of them.”
The actor went on to admit that he is “quite a few seasons behind” on Doctor Who, having stopped watching after his sons left home for university, but he’d heard that the 60th anniversary specials had been “fun”.
Davison added: “David, when he first did Doctor Who, did it because he was a big fan of the series, even though his career was going well.
“And I think he came back because he just couldn’t resist coming back. He wanted to be the Tenth and the Fourteenth Doctor.”
Doctor Who is available to stream on BBC iPlayer.
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