The Christmas special has been cancelled, leaving the future of Doctor Who in flux!
The second and final season of Doctor Who on Disney+ ended with the titular Time Lord (Ncuti Gatwa) seemingly regenerating into Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) in the wake of a season that was wibbly-wobbly due to reshoots and uncertainty. Sorry, not sorry.
Russell T Davies, the returning series showrunner who had successfully rebooted the beloved BBC sci-fi series in 2005, teased that all would be revealed in a Christmas special in 2026.
In a timey-wimey twist, the BBC has announced the cancellation of the festive special. The BBC, Russell T Davies and Bad Wolf have collectively decided not to go ahead.
Referring to the announcement many fans (myself included) feared, Davies explained: "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."
I've long championed J Michael Straczynski (Babylon 5) as a potential series showrunner. After news broke on Wednesday about the future of Doctor Who, Straczynski took to social media to reiterate his previously stated desire for the role.
"A (relatively) quick note to respond to the (much appreciated) scores of (very nice) notes online regarding today's news about Doctor Who," he said.
"My interest and record is well-established; the only real question I think the BBC would (very fairly) ask is: would British fans be open to an American showrunner, even one who is legally a resident of the UK under a visa that allows me to work for in TV/film in the UK?
"I think so but I doubt they'd just take my word for it, nor should they. The fan community would have to have their (polite, constructive) say."
The production will now go out to tender.
HBO Max was rumoured to replace Disney+ as part of a broader co-production deal with the BBC, but that may have been nixed by the merger between Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount Skydance. Apple TV is home to prestige sci-fi, and the current TARDIS interior wouldn’t look out of place in Cupertino. Just saying.
As a lifelong Whovian, it's all too easy to liken this news to the classic series cancellation in 1989! However, the media landscape and how we consume content have changed irrevocably. Doctor Who will be back on our screens and second screens sooner rather than later.
Tales from the TARDIS have been stuck in a nostalgia loop post-pandemic. Do you think J Michael Straczynski should be the next series showrunner? Let me know in the comments below.
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