Doctor Who is one of those British things that feels like it’s always existed, like Sherlock Holmes or Shakespeare or colonialism. But in recent years, the future has seemed increasingly tenuous. A deal with Disney seemed like it would open up the series to brand new audiences around the world, but after two less-than-stellar seasons, the deal was ended, and the series wasn’t renewed at the BBC.
The future of the series remains uncertain, and plenty of people with experience on the series are chiming in on what’s going on. But the more time we go without more Doctor Who, the more this era sounds eerily familiar.
In an interview with Radio Times, Mark Gatiss, who worked on Doctor Who extensively throughout the years, had a markedly pessimistic take on the future of Doctor Who. “My two penneth is, I genuinely think… [F] Scott Fitzgerald said there are no second acts in American lives, and I think that sort of sometimes goes for showbiz as well," Gatiss said.
Is Doctor Who repeating history?
He noted how impressive it is that Doctor Who lasted this long in the first place, and also noted that it’s not the first time that the BBC has left the Doctor on the shelf. “I think maybe it's just time for a break, because all good things come to an end,” he said. “I think the BBC putting it out to tender is a perfectly great idea, but we've been here before. When it was cancelled in 1989, the BBC made a big statement saying 'We're committed to taking Doctor Who through the '90s.' They put it out to tender then, and then it just quietly didn't happen, and I have a feeling maybe that's what's going to happen.”
Former Doctor Who writer and actor Mark Gatiss thinks a break is good for Doctor Who.
Doctor Who’s Extended Universe
He has a point — when Doctor Who went on its extended hiatus in the ‘90s, it only emerged on screens in a single TV movie. But that’s only counting screen appearances. In the ‘90s, there were plenty of other Doctor Who adventures in novels and, eventually, audio dramas. Both are still being released today, and the audio dramas in particular have worked with multiple actors from the series.
Billie Piper, the actress who played Rose in the first few seasons of the 2005 reboot of Doctor Who, is a recent big star of the audio dramas, but she famously appeared as the Doctor’s new form in the last episode of Doctor Who before the hiatus. Speaking at the For the Love of Fantasy & Sci-Fi convention, she said that she is not playing The Doctor, and the fandom needs to “chill out.”
Billie Piper made a shocking appearance as The Doctor’s new form in the latest episode of Doctor Who.
“I am not the next Doctor. I am Rose Tyler in hiatus,” she said. “Sorry, that’s a really cryptic answer, but because I’m not currently filming Doctor Who as the Doctor, I can’t lie and say otherwise. I’m sweating. I hate this.”
Gatiss and Piper both agree on one thing: sometimes, a little distance is what makes the return all the sweeter. “I think you’ve all got to be very patient because it’ll be worth it when it comes,” Piper said. “And I think that we need to celebrate the fact that the [revived] show has … been around for a very long time, it’s massively successful, and it’s impacting so many people’s lives positively.”
For Gatiss, the hiatus is a key part of what makes Doctor Who great. “I think maybe it's just time for a proper break, because you want people to miss it and have fresh ideas, and probably someone to run it who grew up with David Tennant as the Doctor, rather than Tom Baker,” he said.
Maybe this is the recipe for a new Golden Age of Doctor Who, but there’s no getting around the fact that we won’t be getting new episodes of the series anytime soon. But Doctor Who endures, even if it’s not in the form you’re used to. Just like the Time Lord itself, the franchise just needs to regenerate.
