'Doctor Who' writer Pete McTighe found it "freeing" to write an episode without the titular character.
A Doctor Who writer admits it was 'freeing' creating a story without the Time Lord
The iconic BBC sci-fi series' latest episode 'Lucky Day' focused on the Time Lord's former companion Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson) and how she's living life away from the TARDIS, and the writer admitted it was a thrill penning a story that didn't have the safety net of Ncuti Gatwa's Time Lord.
He told the 'Doctor Who: Unleashed' podcast: "For me, that was really exciting, actually... it's kind of freeing to not have the Doctor because it's more dangerous.
"Straight away, if the Doctor's not around, the stakes are higher. He's not around to rescue people.
"So that's been the challenge and the gift of this episode: to have an adventure without the Doctor where people are genuinely in more danger because he's not around."
Pete - previously wrote 'Kerblam!' and 'Praxeus' during Jodie Whittaker's time on the show - admitted his latest "Doctor-lite" episode had a "very different energy" to his other outings.
'Lucky Day' saw the return of Ruby after she said goodbye to the Doctor and decided to spent more time with her family.
She becomes close to podcast host Conrad - played by 'The Little Mermaid' star Jonah Hauer-King - in an episode which fully explores how a former companion tries to adjust to life after the Doctor.
Showrunner Russell T Davies explained: "We always planned that we would come back, we'd find out what happens to a companion after life with the Doctor has gone.
"How vulnerable are you? It's still a rich area to explore. What's the psychological effect of someone who's travelled in time and space? You could explore that forever."
Millie suggested her character finds it "weird" to not be with the Doctor anymore.
However, she pointed out that Ruby gets to show "a whole new side that I think we've not seen before".
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