Doctor Who almost got cancelled during the pandemic, says showrunner

Later this year, Doctor Who will be airing its fourteenth season, with Ncuti Gatwa stepping in as the Fifteenth Doctor (after David Tennant returns briefly as the Fourteenth; it’s confusing, just go with it). The show has been on the air for a long time, and that’s just in its modern iteration. The original series began way back in the ’60s, and ran off and on for decades after.

And yet, no show is ever fully safe from the specter of cancellation. Speaking to Radio Freaks Skaro, showrunner Chris Chibnall recalled the show getting close to the edge ahead of the production of season 13, Jodie Whittaker’s final year on the show.

“[T]here was a week where [Doctor Who: Flux] was not going to be made,” Chibnall said. “And because the BBC was just like — the BBC studios, and it’s like, where’s the money coming from? How are we going to do this? Is it too difficult? And it literally went down to the wire of like, yeah, there was an hour on one day when it’s like, it was done. And yeah, we had to do — there are certain things I had to do to get that season made. Because they couldn’t find a way to do it.”

Jodie Whittaker turned down jobs to appear in Doctor Who season 13

Whittaker, who played the first female Doctor, had to turn down other job offers to appear in season 13. “[S]he had stuff lined up for when we were supposed to finish shooting, but then was delayed by the pandemic,” Chibnall said. “And you know, she’s in demand, and so she sacrificed a lot. Everybody sacrificed a lot. But again, see now it’s like, we’re into that – everybody’s sacrifice and painful, but it’s not that at all! But yeah, we did have those moments. Yeah, completely. And there was, yeah, there’s some things like, I’ll just keep to myself.”

The pandemic was an unprecedented event around the world, so if there was ever a time that Doctor Who might be in danger, it would have been then.

But clearly it pulled through, and will shortly be undergoing one of its famous resets. Not only will there be a new Doctor aboard the TARDIS, but original revival showrunner Russell T Davies is returning to steer the ship!

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