Asking for a friend

This is almost off-topic, but there's just enough DW content that I'm not going to punish myself.

Although Doctor Who is now made with U.S. money, he reiterated previous remarks that the sci-fi smash is still not as lavishly invested in as rival American shows. For a recent scene in the currently-filming Doctor Who season, Davies said he demanded 200 extras for the first time in his career, only to turn on the first episode of The Day of the Jackal and see that, in his mind, there were 500 extras. “I just think, ‘How do you keep up with this?’,” said Davies.

While Davies stressed that he wanted Doctor Who to “look like Stranger Things,” hence the attraction of the Disney money, he said it “would have found a different shape, a different form,” had the Mouse House not jumped aboard. As we revealed recently, the future of the BBC-Disney deal hangs in the balance and Davies said no decision has yet been made over Season 3 of the regenerated version, which stars Ncuti Gatwa as the 14th Doctor.

what are Davies and Moffat’s secrets to telling a great Yuletide yarn? And what do they get up to at Christmas themselves? In [Radio Times'] exclusive fireside chat, they reveal all. Are you sitting comfortably? Then they’ll begin…

In which the writers of christmas episodes past and present discuss

• each other's christmas specials;
• how Joy to the world came about;
• why the Doctor doesn't just solve everything by going in the TARDIS;
• writing, and why AI won't steal creative writers' jobs; and
• what comes next on Doctor Who?

According to Radio Times,

this new version of the serial will feature a 'lost' piece of Doctor Who history – while the Second Doctor's regeneration into the Third Doctor (Jon Pertwee) originally took place off-screen, the special edition of The War Games will depict the changeover on-screen.

and

We're also promised the new release – which will air on BBC Four and be available on BBC iPlayer – will feature "recovered footage not seen since the original broadcast".

Writing in this month's edition of Doctor Who Magazine, he said: "In the office, this show is generally shortened to TWB, which makes me think it stands for Torchwood: Birmingham. We’re in the third week of filming. Very exciting!

"The shoot will go on until just before Christmas, and it’s a mammoth task, all wrangled by one director, Dylan Holmes Williams.

It's worth noting that Gatwa's statement appears to contrast somewhat with those made recently by showrunner Russell T Davies.

He wrote in the most recent issue of Doctor Who Magazine: "The decision to commission Season 3 won’t be made until after Season 2 has transmitted. And that’s always been the deal since the start. Hey, we might even have a day off!