'Doctor Who: Unleashed' Behind-The-Scenes Companion Series Officially Announced

Fourteenth Doctor David Tennant hinted at the 'Confidential' successor series in April

It’s official: After a dozen years and eight series gone by, Doctor Who will have its behind-the-scenes companion series back. Doctor Who: Unleashed will come to BBC Three and iPlayer accompanying each 60th anniversary special in November and every episode after.

The BBC calls Doctor Who: Unleashed unmissable insight into the world of the long-running sci-fi series. Host Steffan Powell will take viewers on a journey with exclusive on-set interviews with the cast and crew. The series’s existence was originally reported by The Mirror in July 2022, and in April, the Tenth and Fourteenth Doctor David Tennant spoke at a GalaxyCon in reference to the production, recalling his “absolutely thrilling" meeting with the franchise’s comic book writers. "It was all filmed by all the various Doctor Who Confidential-style people, so you'll see all that. But it was very exciting for us, for them to visit us on set."

Second-stint showrunner Russell T. Davies says: “Over the years, I meet so many people who were inspired to find careers in TV, because of the behind-the-scenes material the BBC would show. And now it’s back, in the grand old tradition of Doctor Who Confidential, but in a brand new form, Unleashed! So a whole new generation – and faithful fans of old – can see what the stars and the crew get up to behind the cameras.” Powell himself said "When you’re told Russell T. Davies is asking for you to present a show, you say, ‘when does he want me?’ Doesn’t matter, I’ll be there... There’s a really fun and fascinating group of people bringing Doctor Who to life - I can’t wait for the audience to meet them. I’m so chuffed to have been trusted to help tell, in all its glory, the story of what goes into making the magic happen."

Doctor Who Confidential launched on BBC Three to complement the series revival and every episode, though had several specials. Or at least until the BBC decided to cut costs by canceling it after series 6 in 2011, in the middle of Matt Smith’s Eleventh Doctor era. It was primarily narrated by guest stars Simon Pegg and Anthony Head, recurrer Russell Tovey, writer Mark Gatiss, and Alex Price, though Head had the longest tenure at two series and most of the post-series 4 specials.

While the 60th anniversary specials will be the first Doctor Who episodes to air on Disney+ as the series’s new exclusive home for the rest of the world outside the United Kingdom and Ireland, the streamer was not mentioned in terms of being Unleashed’s home. Guess it’s a wait-and-see to see what comes of that. One can hope that they will be the package deal they’re meant to be and are to its home audience. While this is the first overall spinoff of the new era, the first scripted spinoff is reportedly one led by Jemma Redgrave’s Kate Lethbridge-Stewart with a UNIT focus.

Sources: BBC, RadioTimes