Season 2 (The New Renegade)

Season 2 of Doctor Who: The New Renegade was produced as a Paramount+ Original Series, for BBC Studios and CBS Studios. It was aired on BBC One concurrently with its Paramount+ release in the United States.

Overview

Effects of the ViacomCBS Report

Following the ViacomCBS report, the show’s second season was cut down to 8 episodes, from the original 10, due to COVID-19, and the report suggested that the show forged it’s identity clearer than it had in Season 1, asking Carter to chose whether the show would be a “dark adult sci-fi show dealing with difficult social issues” or “a nostalgia filled, fan pleasing, piece of family entertainment, full of fun adventures in the TARDIS”. Based upon the story which had already been planned out for Season 2, Carter chose the latter, but still maintain the show should be TV-MA and for adults, including some darker themes and adult language, as he argued that was fundamental to the identity of the show as well – however, other aspects of the second season, such as further exploitation of the shows religious and social themes were either dropped or dialled back.

Initial Concepts

Espenson wanted a big draw for Season 2, to encourage audiences to watch the show. Season 1’s draw was simply “Anthony Head is back… and in the TARDIS”, but for Season 2, while this was still true, the show needed a new and even bigger draw. It was decided Season 2 would see the return of the Vex, a villain which featured prominently in the Doctor Who Franchise between 2010 and 2013, and one which Espenson had helped to create. Also, Season 2 would see a big difference for the show in that it was now set in an entirely different timeline, which split off from the main universe at the end of Season 1. Espenson arranged for the main show to deal with the fallout of Season 1’s finale, with the new Season 2 universe constantly leaking through to the main shows’ universe, throughout the season, and eventually in the finale, trying to replace it, before the Doctor manages to stop it. That left The New Renegade Season 2 room to act independently of the main show, and from here on out, the main show could act independently of The New Renegade, in their own separate timelines.

Promotion

The promotion for the season went on for a more extended period of time, compared to Season 1’s, due to the fact that the show would be released 6 months later than intended, due to COVID-19, and Mal Young wanted to keep fans hyped up, over the period. The first news about the season was released in November 2020 at The Official Doctor Who Convention where a short teaser trailer was released, which showed a large empty stone hall, with the camera panning up to see a giant monolith with the Vex symbol on it, before it cut to The New Renegade logo, with “June 2021” alongside it. Promotion continued with a second teaser trailer released in February 2021, showing various shots of the Doctor, Emma and Dustin, and revealing an aged Eleventh Doctor, complete with a beard and a pair of glasses. Soon after, at the Super Bowl, the Eleventh Doctor featured on the Paramount+ Mountain trailers, alongside the Sixteenth Doctor and an animated Fourteenth Doctor. In April, the official poster for the season was released, showing the Doctor again in his new look and the Vex symbol, as well as announcing the release date, alongside a full trailer for the season, which went hand-in-hand with the cheeky announcement that Sigourney Weaver will be playing the Doctor’s newest companion, Helena Valentine, in Season 2. Finally, throughout May, in the run-up to June 6th, many different variations of this trailer were aired across several different platforms to promote the season, ready for its big launch.

Cast

Regular

Recurring

Guest

Television Stories

#	Title	Writer	Director	Air Date
1	The Godless Universe	Chris Carter	Chris Carter	6 June 2021
2	The Gateway	Jessica Goldberg	Marta Cunningham	13 June 2021
3	Faithless	Bo Yeon Kim & Erika Lippoldt	Douglas Aarniokoski	20 June 2021
4	Vex	Chris Carter	Douglas Aarniokoski	27 June 2021
5	At His Majesty's Pleasure	Jane Espenson	Douglas Aarniokoski	4 July 2021
6	The Ascension Begins	John Shiban	Marta Cunningham	11 July 2021
7	From Helena With Love	Jane Espenson & Chris Carter	Chris Carter	18 July 2021
8	The Godful Universe	Chris Carter	Chris Carter	25 July 2021

Production

Crew

To be added.

Production Blocks

Block	Episodes	Director	Producer	DOP	Editor
1	2.01, 2.07, 2.08	Chris Carter	April Nocifora	Craig Wrobleski	Eleanor Infante
2	2.02, 2.06	Marta Cunningham	Thomas Sellitti Jr.	Logan Schneider	Jesus Huidobro
3	2.03, 2.04, 2.05	Douglas Aarniokoski	Patrick L. Coleman	Franco Tata	Chad Rubel

Filming

To be added.

Home Media

Physical Media

To be added.