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july 13, 2016 - July 13, 2026 - Our 10 Year Anniversary!!!
The end for Doctor Who.
- Thread starter The shadow
- Start date
nivek
As Above So Below
Doctor Who's Uncertain Future: Writer Says Show is "As Dead As Ever"
One Doctor Who writer believes the show is as dead as it has ever been right now. The British science-fiction classic was rebooted by Russell T. Davies in 2005, with Christopher Eccleston in the role of the titular Time Lord, and Billie Piper as his assistant. Eccleston was then replaced with David Tennant, who many deem the best Doctor.After overseeing the most successful period of the revival's run, Davies stepped away from the show in 2010, with Stephen Moffat taking over. Doctor Who has evolved over the years, with the first female Doctor in Jodie Whittaker and Ncuti Gatwa's first Black Doctor. Following Gatwa's regeneration into Billie Piper's Rose, though, the series now sits at a crossroads.
In an interview with Doctor Who Magazine, Shearman, who penned the 2005 episode "Dalek", gave his views on the current state of the show. He claimed the show is as dead as it's ever been, and with no current Doctor, the show is in danger of feeling regressive with whatever it does next. Check out Shearman's comments:
"At the moment I'm in a 'pull' phase. It's weird because the show is probably as dead as we've ever known it. After 1989, we had, for years, a current Doctor. Now, everything that is ever going to be produced in Doctor Who terms is going to feel retrogressive. At least with the New Adventures and then the BBC Books [original novels published in the nineties] you thought, 'It's the current Doctor – McCoy or McGann'. No one's going to start writing Doctor Who books with a Billie Piper Doctor, because no one knows what that means. In a funny way, the closing moments of The Reality War seem to put a full stop on things. We didn't have that before."
"I don't know that it matters. But it's a strange thing: it's made me want to embrace it, because the whole of Doctor Who feels like it's in its own bubble."
Despite what many believe was an attempt by Disney to manipulate the viewing figures, there is little doubt that times have been hard for Doctor Who in recent years. Davies reinvigorated a tired franchise when he first resurrected Doctor Who back in 2005, but his creative direction has elicited a more divisive response in recent years.
First broadcast in 1963, Doctor Who is the longest-running science-fiction television series in the world.
Shearman is right that Doctor Who has an uncertain future right now, and it's going to take some very clever and creative writing to get the series back on track. It's unclear who will play the new Doctor, or even whether there is still a significant enough appetite for Doctor Who in modern day popular culture. It does seem like the show is on an indefinite hiatus until a creative direction for it can be reached.
It is unclear what the future holds for this storied franchise, and with the way recent events have unfolded, a hiatus for the show might be the perfect antidote. Creative shakeups are in order, and addressing the narrative direction and the show's lead will be essential before Doctor Who season 16 can happen.
As Shearman hints at, the show might be quietly over, for now, but as the past has demonstrated, there is always scope to bring back Doctor Who, in one iteration or another. One thing that is certain is that the series will need to pivot and change things in order to regain the trust of viewers, and become the force it once was.
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The shadow
The shadow knows!
The shadow
The shadow knows!
The shadow
The shadow knows!
BREAKING NEWS: Disney+ is leaving their partnership with Doctor Who! The BBC has confirmed that she show will return with a Christmas Special in 2026 and a future series beyond!
The shadow
The shadow knows!
Oh my good lord .
The shadow
The shadow knows!
Ummm...NO not just HELL NO but F*** NO
The shadow
The shadow knows!
it is my hope all these "leaked" images are false. And BP is not the doctor. I really don't want this. Still waiting on official word.
Rikki
High Priestess
nivek
As Above So Below
There are many ways that trailer was so disturbing to watch, although I did like how the cybermen appeared, the BBC has completely wrecked this once great show...
...
The shadow
The shadow knows!
'Doctor Who' Officially Has a New Streaming Home [Exclusive] 'Doctor Who' Officially Has a New Streaming Home [Exclusive]
The shadow
The shadow knows!
He is out!
AD1184
Celestial
I think maybe it should be put to rest, rather than put out to tender.
The shadow
The shadow knows!
Official now..
The shadow
The shadow knows!
Out for tender= for sale
The shadow
The shadow knows!
The shadow
The shadow knows!
From Doctor Who insider:
The Doctor Who fandom has had a rough week. On Wednesday, the BBC made the announcement nobody had wanted to hear: this year’s Doctor Who Christmas Special has officially been cancelled. The Doctor Who partnership between the BBC and Bad Wolf Studios is over, too, with showrunner Russell T. Davies ending his second run on a cliffhanger ending that felt rather more like a gimmick. The news was all the more shocking given Davies had previously made an upbeat statement promising this press release, and his social media post about the matter seemed almost boisterous.
Looking forward, #DoctorWho now faced something it had never confronted before: the #BBC was putting the world’s longest-running #scifi TV show up for competitive tender. Like most of the Doctor Who fandom, I was shaken. Doctor Who was quietly cancelled back in 1989, with the BBC losing faith in the show and never officially declaring it “dead,” and this competitive tender felt disturbingly reminiscent. It’s taken two days for cooler heads like WilliamWho to join the dots and figure out what’s really going on.
The BBC Is Required to Put Doctor Who Out For Competitive Tender
The BBC is a public service broadcaster bound by a Royal Charter setting out its mission, operations, and strategic vision. The last Charter negotiations took place in 2016, and they established a duty for the BBC to open itself up for competition through competitive tenders; basically, an invitation for production companies to pitch for the opportunity to make an existing series in a sort of “work for hire” contract. According to this Charter, 100% of relevant television content – including Doctor Who – should be open for competition by the end of 2027. As Davies himself explained in an interview with Gaydio, it includes everything from Casualty to the weather.
The BBC already tends well over 70% of its shows, but flagships like Doctor Who, Strictly Come Dancing, and EastEnders have been held back – until now. Doctor Who is the first proper BBC flagship show to go through this process, but that’s probably because of timing; after all, if the BBC entered into a new co-production partnership for Doctor Who, it could only run until the end of 2027 at the latest. Then, the BBC would have to put Doctor Who up for tender. Given this context, the BBC clearly couldn’t work with any partners on a relaunch that would only last a single year.
BBC bosses have consistently stressed their commitment to Doctor Who. Back in February, the BBC’s Director of Drama Lindsay Salt openly described it as “one of the BBC’s most treasured brands,” and the BBC’s new Director General, Matt Brittin, is known industry-wide as a Doctor Who superfan. I admit that, like the rest of the fandom, the competitive tendering process spooked me; now, as I’ve dug into the Charter, I’ve begun to realize this does not mean the BBC has lost confidence in Doctor Who. Rather, the show is simply going through the process it was always going to need.
What Can We Expect From the BBC’s Competitive Tendering?
The BBC has not given up on Doctor Who. But will other production partners step up? This is a legitimate concern, given that the BBC’s Disney+ partnership failed due to Doctor Who's low viewership and high costs. Deadline spoke to “four respected UK drama producers,” and they were apparently wary; “You would have to be mad,” one top producer apparently said. “[It’s a] bit of a nightmare for any producer in this market with the shadow of the Disney fallout.”
“It’s hard to see another major U.S. studio replacing Disney,” the same producer said. “So the budget would be hard to get above £3M ($4M) [per episode] without significant co-pro or insane investment from the distribution arm [BBC Studios], which they will struggle to recoup on sales.” That said, even Deadline note that others are more positive; “One person said Doctor Who is both an intriguing prospect and a potential resource sink. Doctor Who is a global brand that could burnish a producer's résumé and potentially open other doors. And whatever happens, BBC Studios will remain in the saddle, handling distribution, licensing, consumer products, digital, and immersive experiences.”
Davies himself points to one important factor that hasn’t really been discussed: that the tender process is more likely to generate bids for multiple seasons. As he notes, it wouldn’t make financial sense for any production company to bid for just a single season. Thus, in his view, Doctor Who‘s long-term future will be much more secure once the tendering process has been completed.
This will certainly be a tense time for an already-stressed fandom. But it’s important to stress that this is not a cancellation; rather, it is simply the process Doctor Who now has to go through, according to the BBC’s Royal Charter. What’s more, after several hours reviewing the BBC’s previous tenders, I am yet to find a single one where it did not conclude positively.
The Doctor Who fandom has had a rough week. On Wednesday, the BBC made the announcement nobody had wanted to hear: this year’s Doctor Who Christmas Special has officially been cancelled. The Doctor Who partnership between the BBC and Bad Wolf Studios is over, too, with showrunner Russell T. Davies ending his second run on a cliffhanger ending that felt rather more like a gimmick. The news was all the more shocking given Davies had previously made an upbeat statement promising this press release, and his social media post about the matter seemed almost boisterous.
Looking forward, #DoctorWho now faced something it had never confronted before: the #BBC was putting the world’s longest-running #scifi TV show up for competitive tender. Like most of the Doctor Who fandom, I was shaken. Doctor Who was quietly cancelled back in 1989, with the BBC losing faith in the show and never officially declaring it “dead,” and this competitive tender felt disturbingly reminiscent. It’s taken two days for cooler heads like WilliamWho to join the dots and figure out what’s really going on.
The BBC Is Required to Put Doctor Who Out For Competitive Tender
The BBC is a public service broadcaster bound by a Royal Charter setting out its mission, operations, and strategic vision. The last Charter negotiations took place in 2016, and they established a duty for the BBC to open itself up for competition through competitive tenders; basically, an invitation for production companies to pitch for the opportunity to make an existing series in a sort of “work for hire” contract. According to this Charter, 100% of relevant television content – including Doctor Who – should be open for competition by the end of 2027. As Davies himself explained in an interview with Gaydio, it includes everything from Casualty to the weather.
The BBC already tends well over 70% of its shows, but flagships like Doctor Who, Strictly Come Dancing, and EastEnders have been held back – until now. Doctor Who is the first proper BBC flagship show to go through this process, but that’s probably because of timing; after all, if the BBC entered into a new co-production partnership for Doctor Who, it could only run until the end of 2027 at the latest. Then, the BBC would have to put Doctor Who up for tender. Given this context, the BBC clearly couldn’t work with any partners on a relaunch that would only last a single year.
BBC bosses have consistently stressed their commitment to Doctor Who. Back in February, the BBC’s Director of Drama Lindsay Salt openly described it as “one of the BBC’s most treasured brands,” and the BBC’s new Director General, Matt Brittin, is known industry-wide as a Doctor Who superfan. I admit that, like the rest of the fandom, the competitive tendering process spooked me; now, as I’ve dug into the Charter, I’ve begun to realize this does not mean the BBC has lost confidence in Doctor Who. Rather, the show is simply going through the process it was always going to need.
What Can We Expect From the BBC’s Competitive Tendering?
The BBC has not given up on Doctor Who. But will other production partners step up? This is a legitimate concern, given that the BBC’s Disney+ partnership failed due to Doctor Who's low viewership and high costs. Deadline spoke to “four respected UK drama producers,” and they were apparently wary; “You would have to be mad,” one top producer apparently said. “[It’s a] bit of a nightmare for any producer in this market with the shadow of the Disney fallout.”
“It’s hard to see another major U.S. studio replacing Disney,” the same producer said. “So the budget would be hard to get above £3M ($4M) [per episode] without significant co-pro or insane investment from the distribution arm [BBC Studios], which they will struggle to recoup on sales.” That said, even Deadline note that others are more positive; “One person said Doctor Who is both an intriguing prospect and a potential resource sink. Doctor Who is a global brand that could burnish a producer's résumé and potentially open other doors. And whatever happens, BBC Studios will remain in the saddle, handling distribution, licensing, consumer products, digital, and immersive experiences.”
Davies himself points to one important factor that hasn’t really been discussed: that the tender process is more likely to generate bids for multiple seasons. As he notes, it wouldn’t make financial sense for any production company to bid for just a single season. Thus, in his view, Doctor Who‘s long-term future will be much more secure once the tendering process has been completed.
This will certainly be a tense time for an already-stressed fandom. But it’s important to stress that this is not a cancellation; rather, it is simply the process Doctor Who now has to go through, according to the BBC’s Royal Charter. What’s more, after several hours reviewing the BBC’s previous tenders, I am yet to find a single one where it did not conclude positively.