Fan Casting What If Doctor Who Wasn't Axed? - Doctor Who: The New Renegade (2021)

After the somewhat muddled season 1, and with the ViacomCBS report, VCBS had Carter choose between either a "dark show filled with social commentary" or a "nostalgia filled family adventure" with Carter choosing the latter while still holding those somewhat darker themes, but not being as dark. The season was intended to be 10 episodes, but due to COVID-19, was shortened to 8. To get a bigger draw for the season, Jane Espenson had the draw be the returning villains, the Vex. Due to being delayed for so long, there was a lot more advertising, as well as showcasing Paramount's new streaming service with this being one of the flagship shows. The New Renegade was only supposed to be two seasons, so when Paramount+ announced there would be a third during filming, Chris Carter would step down from his position as showrunner after the second season.