“It’s Not for You Any More”: Mark Gatiss Takes Aim at “Grumpy Old Doctor Who Fans” and Nostalgia

Mark Gatiss must have a new show to promote, because he’s been making a lot of headlines lately. Now he’s turned his attention to calling out “grumpy old Doctor Who fans” and warning that nostalgia is holding the show back.

In a wide-ranging conversation with Radio Times, the writer and actor looked back on his time working on the series, highlighting the importance of looking forward.

“The actual process of trying to make a modern show for a new audience is not about nostalgia,” Gatiss explained. “And I think that’s the great difference. You have to get right. Why is this going to work now? It doesn’t really matter what worked for Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker. It’s about now.”

Gatiss, who wrote nine episodes for the revived series, noted the recurring temptation for both writers and fans to fall back on the familiar.

“So if we’re trying to get an audience now, this show is the same but different. So it was always a combination of those things. And it’s a strange thing because I’ve revived so many things, but I think nostalgia is a great enemy, and we have to all be careful of it.”

The Doctor Who veteran went further, linking nostalgia to wider cultural issues: “It’s part of the reason we’re in the mess we are. I think it’s weaponised nostalgia. Nothing’s as good as it used to be. And, and yet people can’t see that people have always thought that, even when it used to be better.”

At the heart of his comments, Gatiss made a clear point about who the show is really for, and why holding onto the past can become a problem: “As much as I love old stuff, what the job of the show constantly is to regenerate itself. Sometimes when I meet grumpy old Doctor Who fans, you think you’ve just fallen into the same space-time trap: that it’s not as good as it used to be because it’s not for you any more.”

If you still like it, that’s great, but it’s not for you.”