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Doctor Who director explains why he never returned after fan-favourite episodes
Joe Ahearne helmed five episodes of the 2005 revival.
BBC
- Morgan Jeffery
Published: Wednesday, 14 May 2025 at 7:00 pm
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It's 20 years since Doctor Who made a return to television, earning a strong critical reception and winning over a new legion of fans.
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Five episodes from the 2005 run were directed by Joe Ahearne, who helmed popular instalments including Dalek, Father's Day and The Parting of the Ways.
Despite being such a prominent feature of that first season – which starred Christopher Eccleston as the Ninth Doctor and Billie Piper as companion Rose Tyler – Ahearne never returned to the worlds of Doctor Who, even following the positive reaction to his episodes.
Speaking at Doctor Who: 20 Years On – an event held at the BFI Southbank in partnership with the Doctor Who Appreciation Society – Ahearne revealed that "there were" discussions about him potentially coming back.
However, he added: "I kind of felt that I'd already come back, because I'd only come on to do two episodes and then they invited me back for another three... so I feel like I did three series in one."
Billie Piper as Rose Tyler in Doctor Who: Dalek. BBC
Ahearne – who also wrote and directed Channel 4's 1998 vampire thriller Ultraviolet and the 2017 BBC One thriller The Replacement – was originally charged with overseeing the block of filming involving Dalek and Father's Day, before being invited back to direct two-part finale Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways and finally the episode Boomtown.
"I did love my time working on it, but I don't think any other director has done five episodes in a single series – it's a huge commitment, so I was kind of Doctor Who-ed out by the end," Ahearne explained.
Doctor Who continues on BBC One and BBC iPlayer this Saturday, with its latest episode featuring the show's current leads Ncuti Gatwa and Varada Sethu, but Eccleston and Piper are also set to reunite for a new audio drama series from Big Finish, scheduled for release in August.
Read more:
- Doctor Who confirms airing schedule change for finale – scrapping early iPlayer release
- David Tennant says he won’t return to Doctor Who again – at least "for a while"
Doctor Who continues next Saturday (17th May), with new episodes available from 8am on Saturdays on BBC iPlayer in the UK and later the same day on BBC One. The series is available on Disney+ outside of the UK.
Dive into our Doctor Who story guide: reviews of every episode since 1963, plus cast & crew listings, production trivia, and exclusive material from the Radio Times archive.
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Authors
Morgan Jeffery
Morgan Jeffery is as a TV and Film expert and has appeared on BBC Breakfast, BBC Radio 5 Live and Sky Atlantic.
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