No Doctor Who Christmas Special as showrunner RTD and production company Bad Wolf exit Doctor Who and the BBC puts the series up for tender. There were rumors about that things were on a knife edge with regards to the future of the show and the already announced Christmas Special. I guess they were true?
After the failure of the reboot under Disney to catch an audience, Disney let the IP go. Without Disney’s funding, the future of the series looked grim. Then Russel T. Davies (RTD) announced a Christmas special was in development, presumably to deal with the final regeneration we saw into Billie Piper and to set up the future of the series.
Well, it’s now become evident nothing was written for this special, no one had any specific ideas and it was announced to try and keep something on the horizon.
Doctor Who Announcement
Well, that is over now. As per BBC,
‘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.
The previously announced new Doctor Who animation series for CBeebies is currently in production.
Details of the tender will be announced in due course.
The BBC retains all IP in Doctor Who. BBC Studios will continue to lead the global distribution of Doctor Who as well as licensing, consumer products, digital and immersive experiences on behalf of the BBC.’
Bad Wolf has been looking after the series since it resurfaced under RTD’s tenure with Christopher Ecclestone. Whatever comes next, I can only imagine that it has to have lower budget aims than Bad Wolf’s ideas had. After all, it’s the financing that the BBC struggles with, being a non-profit making organisation.
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What’s more, RTD has posted on Instagram about the announcement and given a few more details. Namely that there were no details, no script was written, no actors were chased for the role of the new Doctor, nothing.
“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,” he added.
“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 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.”
What’s Next?
Bit of a strange statement from RTD, but I kinda think that’s who he is and he thinks he’s a bit bigger than Doctor Who. Gotta say I felt RTD hardly ever wrote a good series finale and the entire show was in better hands under Moffatt. That’s just my opinion though and it’s fair to say RTD’s David Tennant era was the most watched era in the show’s history. Probably why Disney offered good money to bring him back. Now the gravy train is gone, it’s off to new hands.
Some people will say Disney killed Doctor Who, they’re wrong. Chris Chibnall’s era followed by RTD’s unsuccessful return era are what killed the show. Poor writing and not popular at all among hard core fans.
Who knows what comes next, what if no one bothers tendering for the show? I guess we will fund out. Leave any thoughts you have below.
