Just like the Grinch came for Whoville, the BBC has come for Whovians this holiday season. The network announced it has canceled this year’s Doctor Who Christmas special. It also revealed that showrunner Russell T Davies is leaving the series. This might all sound very bad, but according to Davies, the mere possibility of a Christmas special was always meant to serve as a bridge to a new era of Doctor Who. And that’s exactly what this is all about. The BBC is already looking for a new voice to lead the show.
After the Doctor Who Christmas Special was postponed… from Christmas… we know things might not be going in a great direction. And now, the BBC has revealed big changes are coming to its landmark sci-fi series, and they start with not making the planned Christmas special. From the network’s official press release:
After careful consideration, the BBC, Russell T Davies and Bad Wolf have collectively decided not to go ahead with the previously announced Doctor Who Christmas episode. This decision was not taken lightly, and we know it will be disappointing for fans, but in order to set the show up for future series, it was decided that rather than bridge the gap with a one off special, we are choosing to push forward to invest in the long-term future of the show which ensures that when the TARDIS lands once more, it does so in all its glory.
The BBC also said that its efforts at “securing the next phase of the show for future generations will include putting the show “out to competitive tender this year.” On Instagram, Davies confirmed his departure and also offered insight into the cancellation of the Doctor Who Christmas special, which apparently only ever existed in strategic name only. Davies wrote, “We only cooked [the special] up to guarantee a future when no one knew what would happen, but now we do know, there’s no need for it.”
Davies also said no Doctor Who Christmas special script ever existed and that he never approached any actor to play the Doctor. Left unsaid is what his departure and the special’s cancellation will mean for the giant cliffhanger he leaves behind. We thought the Christmas special could resolve the shocking return of Billie Piper’s Rose Tyler. Now we don’t know if that storyline will ever get a conclusion. We might never know if she was, in fact, the next Doctor. And we probably won’t find out if we’ll find out until 2028.
That’s not a long time for a regenerating Time Lord. But it’s not exactly the type of holiday present Whovians expected to get this year.