Doctor Who has had a lot of ups and downs lately. The most recent two seasons, starring Ncuti Gatwa as the Fifteenth Doctor, have gotten mixed reviews: some episodes have hit and others haven't. Much more concerning, ratings have been dropping, even with a new infusion of cash thanks to a Disney partnership. And things got quite messy with the season 2 finale when Gatwa's Doctor generated into Billie Piper, who played companion Rose Tyler back when the show was first revived in the mid-2000s. Billie Piper is a familiar face for Doctor Who fans, which is exciting, but there's a sense that this was a last-minute plan, with lots of rumors flying about Gatwa having exited early.
I think everyone is bracing for an announcement that Doctor Who has been cancelled, or at least put on an extended hiatus; showrunner Russell T Davies has already said that a "pause" might be coming. Writing in the latest issue of Doctor Who Magazine, he still sounded unsure. “We don’t know what’s happening yet,” he wrote, adding that he'll be stepping back from the magazine “while everyone works that out.” He sounds like he's in the same boat as fans, writing, “Hopefully, we’ll have news soon.”
If the show did take a pause, it wouldn't be anything new. Doctor Who has been on the air since the 1960s and has been known to go into hibernation from time to time before it reemerges in a new form. Davies, ever optimistic, is confident the show will continue one way or another. ‘Doctor Who’ will never end!” he wrote. “There are pathways leading to potential futures — we’ve still got the mystery of that bright and blazing ending, ‘Oh, hello,’ yes indeed, hello Billie!”
BBC comedy show mocks Doctor Who
In the meantime, fans and critics wait on the sidelines, speculating and making jokes. Take Dead Ringers, a BBC comedy podcast known for its pop culture parodies. In a recent episode, it took aim at Doctor Who. The Doctor and his companion fight a villain who isn't intimidated by them: "Do you think lazily-written mawkishness is going to scare me?" they ask. In the end, the villain dies "of cringe," so I guess the mawkishness works.
The parody ends with the Doctor saying, "Laters, I'm going to regenerate into Billie Piper for clicks!" Good-natured ribbing or too close to home for comfort?
Babylon 5 creator wants to manage Doctor Who
Russell T Davies was the guy who first rebooted Doctor Who in 2005, and led it to much success. He returned in 2023 in what seem to be the show's waning years. If the BBC or Disney or whoever has the reigns at Doctor Who wants to reorganize things, maybe bringing in fresh blood is the way to go.
They have a volunteer in J. Michael Straczynski, the creator of the cult classic sci-fi show Babylon 5. "I would love nothing more in life than to take on that job, it'd be the thrill of a lifetime, but we'll see," he wrote on Twitter/X. According to Doctor Who TV, he later added, “I suppose the question is, wouldDoctor Whofans be willing to accept an American, even a hardcore Anglophile with a UK visa, for such an inherently British series, givenBabylon 5andSense8and the like? Would I be worthy?”
It's true that Doctor Who has been resistant to Americans talent behind the camera over the years. But Straczynski's a talented guy, and if they're willing to partner with Disney they can't be too averse to American influence. So we'll see.
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h/t Variety, Games Radar,