Well, that’s it, guys, the highly anticipated return of Doctor Who that came a couple of years ago, the new era that was supposed to launch the series to new heights, giving us spinoffs, a wider universe and so much more is now… dead.
Sitting alongside Disney’s Star Wars, the handling of Doctor Who in the last few years, will be studied some day, studied because of the way the show was handled, when the lead actor told fans who didn’t like it not to watch, when the writing lacked any sort of subtlety or nuance and simply shoved its messages down viewers’ throats, when the Doctor was treated like a cry baby, when Davros was no-longer a terrifying villain who was basically half-Dalek because it was insulting to diabled people, when all these things – and there was more – acted as nails in the coffin of a franchised that was loved and embraced by fans for over 60 years and was murdered in front of our very eyes.
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Anyways, I could write more, but I don’t need to, if you know you know.
When the 2026 Christmas Special was announced last October, below, many were skeptical, and it seems they were right because now the BBC has announced that the show will not be coming back this Christmas and, on top of that, is still part of the BBC, but is now out to tender again because Disney, who swept in, destroyed the franchsie and now has cleared – the destruction is now, it seems, part of Disney’s business model with all fomerly successful franchises. This leads me to think that maybe the rumours that they couldn’t get an actor to take on the role for a new series, are true.
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Anyway, taking to the internet, the BBC said:
Today we’re announcing an update on plans for the future of Doctor Who.
As part of securing the next phase of the show for future generations, and in line with the BBC’s Charter and Agreement requirements, the BBC will put Doctor Who out to competitive tender this year. Doctor Who remains an important part of the BBC and this tender underpins the BBC’s continued commitment to Doctor Who, ensuring audiences will enjoy the show for years to come.
After careful consideration, the BBC, Russell T Davies and Bad Wolf have collectively decided not to go ahead with the previously announced Doctor Who Christmas episode. This decision was not taken lightly, and we know it will be disappointing for fans, but in order to set the show up for future series, it was decided that rather than bridge the gap with a one off special, we are choosing to push forward to invest in the long-term future of the show which ensures that when the TARDIS lands once more, it does so in all its glory.
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In all its glory…
Additionally, taking to Instagram, showrunner, well, ex-showrunner, Russell T Davies wrote: “And so GOODBYE from me to Doctor Who but HELLO to a big new future for the show, as the BBC announces it’s putting the show out to tender.
“As a result, there won’t be a Christmas Special – we only cooked that up to guarantee a future when no one knew what would happen, but now we do know, there’s no need for it. You’ll have to wait a bit longer for new Doctor Who… but you’ll be waiting for MORE Doctor Who than a one-off. So it’s worth it!
“For the record: there was no script, I never wrote it, and no actor was ever approached to play the next Doctor. You may disagree; fine, sit in that chair and wait to be proved right. You’ll wait a lonnng time
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“Now I’m as excited as anyone to see what comes next! Will they keep the theme tune? Will they lose the blue box? Will they bring back the Drahvin?! It’s all up for grabs, which is so Doctor Who, exciting and unpredictable and new! Here comes the future, vworp vworp”
The odd thing here is that Davies has, to my knowledge, written several scripts for the Christmas Special, some with Billie Piper as the Doctor, if a new Doctor wasn’t found, and some incorporating a new Doctor, but now, as it is, until the series returns, Billie Piper’s Rose Tyler is the Doctor.
Add to all this, word is that it will be at least 2028 before the series returns because it needs a massive reworking to try to fix the mistakes of recent years, and I think it’s fair to say that, as of now, Doctor Who may not be dead btu it’s certainly in critical condition.
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For the record, my advice to the BBC is to do something akin to the 2005 relaunching of Doctor Who – ironically also overseen by Davies, oh, how he fell from grace – and cast a major star (my money is on Hugh Laurie) – give him all the money he wants and concentrate on time travel, scary aliens, Daleks, and fantastical worlds and give the fans what they want.
It’s Doctor Who, it’s not that difficult… or at least it shouldn’t be. But here we are.
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Marc
Marc is a self-confessed nerd. Ever since seeing Star Wars for the first time around 1979 he’s been an unapologetic fan of the Wars and still believes, with Clone Wars and now Underworld, we are yet to see the best Star Wars. He’s a dad of two who now doesn’t have the time (or money) to collect the amount of toys, comics, movies and books he once did, much to the relief of his long-suffering wife. In the real world he’s a graphic designer. He started Following the Nerd because he was tired of searching a million sites every day for all the best news that he loves and decided to create one place where you can go to get the whole lot. Secretly he longs to be sitting in the cockpit of his YT-1300 Corellian Transport ship with his co-pilot Chewie, roaming the universe, waiting for his next big adventure, but feels just at home watching cartoons with his kids….
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