Doctor Who boss Steven Moffat has insisted the show will go on after the BBC announced the Doctor Who Christmas special will not go ahead as planned. Production company Bad Wolf, which proved instrumental in the modern revival of Who, posted an image of the Tardis door closing, indicating their chapter on board is at an end. Russell T Davies also confirmed he will be exiting, insisting in an Instagram post that a Christmas special script was never penned and he is ‘as excited as anyone to see what comes next’.
Moffat addresses show's future
During an appearance at the fandom convention Utopia 2026, Moffat addressed this week’s shock announcement that the show will be put out to tender, meaning other companies will pitch plans for its future. Moffat said (via RadioTimes): ‘Doctor Who has not been cancelled. Yes, Christmas has been cancelled. Well, to be clear, not all of Christmas, the day will still take place, even if Doctor Who’s not on it.
‘Quite honestly, I’m not altogether sure why they bother doing that, but yes, Christmas, and that’s a black mark.’ He continued: ‘I don’t like the fact there’s not gonna be a Christmas special. There should always be a Christmas special. There’s not going to be that, but the show will return – very, very definitely.’
Not a repeat of the wilderness years
Moffat went on to promise fans that this hiatus of sorts will not be like the show’s wilderness years between 1989 and 2005, when it only lived on in comic strips, audio plays and novels. ‘This is not like… those of us who are old, remember it was 16 years of, “Well, we’ll maybe tell you something next week”. It’s not that situation,’ Moffat said.
‘So, out to tender is not out to grass. Out to tender means actively seeking a future for Doctor Who. The argument for cancelling Doctor Who Entertainment Reporter Danni Scott makes the case for putting the show out to pasture here… RTD’s return was meant to mirror that 2005 feeling of renewal and the prospect of returning to the already 40-year-old franchise was initially met with huge enthusiasm.
Now, three years on, instead of buzzing with possibility, this past series, and the looming next reboot, now just feels like a bloated extension of a show that should have bowed out gracefully years ago. If the BBC decides to renew, even with a new team at the helm, it risks further tainting everything that makes Doctor Who a British institution. It breaks my heart to say it, but they should cancel it while they still have fans left to care.
‘It may take a little bit longer. Oh, so what? How much Doctor Who do you need? On your iPhones right now is every episode ever made, except for the ones we accidentally lost! So watch those for a while.’
BBC stresses show is not cancelled
The BBC has also been keen to stress that the show is not cancelled, noting in the official announcement on the Christmas special that the Beeb considers Who an important show and wants to continue making it. Once-upon-a-time Who showrunner Moffat has popped back into the Tardis since his 2017 departure by writing one-off episodes.
Doctor Who is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
