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ARTICLE: How DWM Predicted Doctor Who Could Come Back in 2002 - Were They Right?

Cast your mind back (if you're old enough!) to a time before Doctor Who was brought back to life by Russell T Davies, after a 16-year hiatus, in 2005. That period has since become known by fans as The Wilderness Years, that wedge of time between Season 26 ending in December 1989 and Rose debuting in March 2005. It was a time packed with Doctor Who books, comics, audios, toys and even a 90-minute TV movie... but no new series proper.

In its Christmas 2001 issue, Doctor Who Magazine decided to ask some pertinent questions about the practicalities and probabilities of our beloved programme ever getting back onto TV. In an article called "When's He Coming Back?" (hindsight makes that pronoun stick out!), writer Jonathan Blum asked 50 questions of a panel of pundits who worked in TV and media, to find out whether Doctor Who really could still cut it in the year 2002. Looking back, some of the panel's answers are amusingly wide of the mark, as well as fascinatingly prescient. So let's look back at what was asked, what was said, and whether anybody got it right...

The Legend of Ruby Sunday/ Empire of Death

S Triad. That's not an anagram,
it's a trap.

Two episodes (The Legend of Ruby Sunday, Empire of Death)

First broadcast: June 15-22 2024
Audience for story: 3.60m

REGULAR CAST

Ncuti Gatwa (The Doctor) Born Oct 15 1992 Click here for Ncuti Gatwa's entry on The Giggle

Millie Gibson (Ruby Sunday) Born Jun 19 2004 Click here for Millie Gibson's entry on The Church on Ruby Road

GUEST CAST

Jasmine Bayes (Corporal Sullivan) Born 1994

Career highlights

Jasmine's other work includes Platform 7 (2023), Father Brown (2024) and Vera (2024).

Nicholas Briggs (Voice of the Vlinx) Born Sep 29 1961 Click here for Nicholas Briggs' entry on Rose

Sian Clifford (Kind woman) Born Apr 7 1982

Career highlights

Sian's earliest credit was in Dark Matters: Twisted But True (2012), followed by Midsomer Murders (2013), Vanity Fair (2018), Fleabag (2016-19), Hitmen (2020), Liar (2020), Quiz (2020), Two Weeks to Live (2020), The Duke (2020), Inside No 9 (2021), Life After Life (2022), Chevalier (2022), His Dark Materials (2022), Unstable (2023) and Star Wars: The Bad Batch (2021/24).

Awards

2020: BAFTA TV Award for Best Female Performance in a Comedy Programme (Fleabag)

Aidan Cook (The Vlinx)

Doctor Who credits
Played: The Mummy in The Rings of Akhaten (2013)
Played: The Crooked Man in Hide (2013)
Played: Cyberman in Nightmare in Silver (2013), The Time of the Doctor (2013)
Played: Zygon in The Day of the Doctor (2013), The Zygon Invasion/ The Zygon Inversion (2015)

Played: The Vlinx in The Giggle (2023), The Legend of Ruby Sunday/ Empire of Death (2024)
Career highlights
Aidan started out as one of the animatronics operators on children's series Fimbles in 2002, for which he also provided voice work. He was also movement director on the 2009 adaptation of The Day of the Triffids, and was the children's acting coach on the 2011 film Horrid Henry (he also provided various voices for the TV series (2006-19)). Further acting work includes Jackanory (1982/84), Mack the Knife (1989), ChuckleVision (1998), Sir Gadabout, the Worst Knight in the Land (2002), Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008), Warrioress (2011), Restless (2012), Yamla Pagla Deewana 2 (2013), Star Wars: Rogue One (2016), Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019), Andor (2022) and Willow (2022).

Alexander Devrient (Colonel Ibrahim)

Played: Colonel Christopher Ibrahim in The Giggle (2023), The Legend of Ruby Sunday/ Empire of Death (2024)

Career highlights

German/ French actor Alexander made his screen debut in the 2010 short Detente, followed by We are What We Drink (2010), Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011), Voodoo Magic (2013), Emmerdale (2014), The Danish Girl (2015), SS-GB (2017), Genius (2018), The Bureau (2018), Industry (2020), Motherland (2021), Ted Lasso (2021), All the Old Knives (2022) and The Bastard Son and the Devil Himself (2022).

Anita Dobson (Mrs Flood) Born Apr 29 1949

Doctor Who credits

Played: Mrs Flood in The Church on Ruby Road (2023), 73 Yards (2024), The Legend of Ruby Sunday/ Empire of Death (2024)

Career highlights

Anita's earliest TV credit was in the 1979 TV film Leave Him to Heaven, followed by roles in Nanny (1981), Partners in Crime (1983), Up the Elephant and Round the Castle (1983-84), Split Ends (1989), Red Dwarf (1993), Rab C Nesbitt (1993), Woof! (1993), Smokescreen (1994), Ghosts (1995), Dangerfield (1995), The Famous Five (1996), Highlander (1997), The Tichborne Claimant (1998), Sunburn (1999), Urban Gothic (2000), Daddyfox (2000), NCS Manhunt (2002), Hotel Babylon (2008), Gigglebiz (2009-11), Sadie J (2012), Pompidou (2015), The Rise of the Krays (2015), The Fall of the Krays (2016), Call the Midwife (2017), The Worst Witch (2018-19), Dodger (2022) and Inside No 9 (2023). Of course, Anita will forever be remembered most for her role as Angie Watts in 274 episodes of the soap EastEnders (1985-88).

Facts

Anita is married to Brian May, legendary guitarist with the rock band Queen. She is the great-granddaughter of Sarah Dearman, one of the leaders of the 1888 Bryant & May matchgirls' strike, which had a lasting impact on gender equality and the trades union movement. In September 1986, Anita reached number 4 in the UK singles chart with a vocal version of the EastEnders theme, entitled Anyone Can Fall in Love.

Yasmin Finney (Rose Noble) Born Aug 30 2003

Doctor Who credits

Played: Rose Noble in The Star Beast (2023), The Giggle (2023), The Legend of Ruby Sunday/ Empire of Death (2024)

Career highlights

Yasmin rose to prominence playing Elle Argent in the series Heartstopper (2022), and has also appeared in the short film Mars (2022).

Facts

Yasmin is a trans woman.

Michelle Greenidge (Carla) Born Jun 15 1970

Doctor Who credits

Played: Carla Sunday in The Church on Ruby Road (2023), Space Babies (2024), 73 Yards (2024), Rogue (2024), The Legend of Ruby Sunday/ Empire of Death (2024)

Career highlights

Debuted in the 2009 short Leave, followed by All About the McKenzies (2014), Venus vs Mars (2015), A Lesson Learnt (2015), Intruders (2017), Timewasters (2019), I May Destroy You (2019-20), Small Axe (2020), It's a Sin (2021), Cruella (2021), King Gary (2021), Grantchester (2021), Alex Rider (2021), The Witchfinder (2022) and My Happy Ending (2023). Recurring roles include Lola in Mandy (2020-22), Valerie in After Life (2019-22) and Judith in Code 404 (2020-22).

Bonnie Langford (Melanie Bush) Born Jul 22 1964 Click here for Bonnie Langford's entry on The Trial of a Time Lord Parts 9-12

Fela Lufadeju (Bailey Sinclair)

Career highlights

Further work includes White Girl (2016), I May Destroy You (2020) and Santiago (2022).

Genesis Lynea (Harriet Arbinger) Born Oct 20 1989

Career highlights

Bermuda-born actor Genesis first appeared in the family comedy 4 O'Clock Club as Maddie Harper (2018-19), followed by roles in Shadow and Bone (2021), A Discovery of Witches (2019-22), The Baby (2022), Champion (2023), Halo (2024), Death in Paradise (2023-24) and You & Me (2023-24). Regular roles include Archie Hudson in Casualty (2019-20) and Dr Simone Tyler in Silent Witness (2021-22).

Facts

Genesis was the original Anne of Cleves in the stage musical Six, and features on the original cast soundtrack. Genesis was one of the UK's first female krump dancers, and appears in the music video for Jessie J's Do It Like a Dude (2010).

Tachia Newall (Colonel Chidozie) Born Jan 10 1990

Career highlights

Tachia has also appeared in Doctors (2010), Moving On (2010), Young Dracula (2011), Coronation Street (2010/12), Scott & Bailey (2014), Vera (2015), From Darkness (2015), Armchair Detectives (2017), Silent Witness (2018), Dirty God (2019), Dune: Part 1 (2021), Dodger (2022), Life After Life (2022), Pennyworth (2022) and Brassic (2023). He may be best remembered for playing Bolton Smilie in 57 episodes of Waterloo Road between 2007-13.

Facts

Tachia also has a second career as a rapper, under the name Truthos Mufasa. Although born in Manchester, Tachia moved with his family to Mozambique in 1993, and when he returned to the UK in 1996, his first language was Portuguese.

Jemma Redgrave (Kate Stewart) Born Jan 14 1965 Click here for Jemma Redgrave's entry on The Power of Three

Lenny Rush (Morris Gibbons) Born Mar 18 2009

Career highlights

Lenny's debut came in 2018 as Eli in Apple Tree House, followed by roles in A Christmas Carol (2019), The Dumping Ground (2021-22), Am I Being Unreasonable? (2022), Enola Holmes 2 (2022), Best Interests (2023), The Queen Mary (2023), Dodger (2022-23), W1A (2024) and Renegade Nell (2024).

Awards

2023: BAFTA TV Award for Best Male Performance in a Comedy Programme (Am I Being Unreasonable?)

2023: National Comedy Breakthrough Award

Facts

Lenny was originally cast to provide the voice of Eric in Space Babies, but was offered the bigger role of Morris Gibbons when the production team saw how good he was. Lenny was born with the condition spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia congenita, which affects his growth.

Susan Twist (Susan Triad) Born c.1957 Click here for Susan Twist's entry on Wild Blue Yonder

Gabriel Woolf (Voice of Sutekh) Born Oct 2 1932
Doctor Who credits
Played: Sutekh in Pyramids of Mars (1975), The Legend of Ruby Sunday/ Empire of Death (2024)
Played: Voice of the Beast in The Impossible Planet/ The Satan Pit (2006)
Career highlights
Gabriel was first credited in The Boy with a Cart (1951), then appeared in Knights of the Round Table (1953), Rob Roy (1961), Emergency Ward 10 (1961), Merry-Go-Round (1968), Honey Lane (1969), Paul Temple (1971), Look and Read: The Boy from Space (1971), The Brothers (1972), Dial M for Murder (1974), Bognor (1981), The Prisoner of Zenda (1984) and Wizards vs Aliens (2012-13).
Facts
He is married to opera singer Dame Felicity Lott, who sang at the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of York in 1986. In 1981 Gabriel read three Doctor Who novelisations as RNIB talking books (imagine a bedtime story read to you by Sutekh!). Gabriel is also a vice-president of the Joyful Company of Singers.

Angela Wynter (Cherry) Born Jul 14 1957

Doctor Who credits

Played: Cherry Sunday in The Church on Ruby Road (2023), Space Babies (2024), 73 Yards (2024), The Legend of Ruby Sunday/ Empire of Death (2024)

Career highlights

Jamaican Angela's earliest credit is 1981's Burning an Illusion, followed by The Nation's Health (1983), Minder (1984), No Problem! (1983-84), The Bill (1992), Murder Most Horrid (1994), Cracker (1994), Cutting It (2002), Death in Paradise (2017), The Tunnel (2017-18), Les Miserables (2019), Last Christmas (2019), Home by 8.30 (2020), Mood (2022), Vampire Academy (2022), Call the Midwife (2023) and Time (2023). Regular roles include Makeda Sylvester in Doctors (2021) and Yolande Trueman in more than 360 episodes of soap EastEnders (2003-23).

Facts

Angela is also a singer, having been part of the 1980s band View from the Hill between 1985-88. During this period the band released an album called In Time, and three singles: No Conversation  (which peaked at number 58 in the singles chart), I'm No Rebel (which peaked at number 59) and Stay and Let Me Love You. More recently, Angela has been a member of the female reggae group Sistas.

CREW

Russell T Davies (writer) Born Apr 27 1963 Click here for Russell T Davies' entry on Rose

Jamie Donoughue (director)

Doctor Who credits

Directed: Destination: Skaro (2023), The Legend of Ruby Sunday/ Empire of Death (2024)

Career highlights

Jamie's first directing work was 2013's Ada, followed by The Last Kingdom (2017), The Innocents (2018), Endeavour (2019), A Discovery of Witches (2019-22) and A Town Called Malice (2023). He has also acted as co-producer on A Discovery of Witches and A Town Called Malice.

Facts

Jamie's short film Shok was nominated for an Oscar in 2016. In 2010 Jamie travelled to Kosovo to film a commercial when he was left stranded there for five weeks following the eruption of the Icelandic volcano. He has also directed music videos.