Doctor Who writer says s12 almost brought back classic villain
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Doctor Who writer Pete McTighe has revealed the classic enemy he nearly brought back while writing season 12.
Speaking to the Radio Times about his time writing for the sci-fi show, McTighe recalled how he nearly had Jodie Whittaker's Doctor face off against animated mannequins the Autons in the episode 'Praxeus'.
Explaining how he wanted to use the villain as part of the story, which examined the impact of plastics on the environment, McTighe said: "With Praxeus, I really wanted to do a plastics story, a story about the impact of plastic on the planet. And I also wanted to do an Auton story.
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"Originally, that was going to be an Auton story, that will not surprise you to know."
He continued: "It didn't become that, which is a shame. But I'm pleased – it was weirdly kind of prescient because it was about a pandemic two years before it happened, so that was kind of scary."
The Autons made their first appearance during the 1970 episode 'Spearhead from Space' and popped up more recently as an antagonist for Matt Smith's Eleventh Doctor.
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The writer went on to explain that the Autons were ultimately cut after he and showrunner Chris Chibnall decided against recycling too many elements from earlier shows.
"It went out the window quite early on," he added.
"And I think the things we wanted to do with it, we wouldn't have been able to achieve on the budget, which was also a problem I had... I think you need a bigger budget to do that."
Doctor Who returns later in 2023 on BBC One in the UK and Disney+ elsewhere. Meanwhile, in the US, the show airs on BBC America, with series 1-12 available on Max.
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