Russell T Davies says goodbye to Doctor Who as BBC scraps Christmas special and opens show to rival bids
"And so GOODBYE from me to Doctor Who but HELLO to a big new future for the show," Davies wrote alongside a Tardis sketch
By Callum Wells
Russell T Davies has said “goodbye” to Doctor Who as the BBC confirmed the long-running sci-fi series will be put out to competitive tender, allowing production companies to bid to make it.
The showrunner addressed fans directly on Instagram following the announcement, revealing that plans for a previously announced Christmas special have now been abandoned.
“And so GOODBYE from me to Doctor Who but HELLO to a big new future for the show, as the BBC announces it’s putting the show out to tender,” Davies wrote alongside a Tardis sketch.
“You’ll have to wait a bit longer for new Doctor Who… but you’ll be waiting for MORE Doctor Who than a one-off’ – Russell T Davies on the show’s future
“As a result, there won’t be a Christmas Special – we only cooked that up to guarantee a future when no one knew what would happen, but now we do know, there’s no need for it,” he added.
“You’ll have to wait a bit longer for new Doctor Who… but you’ll be waiting for MORE Doctor Who than a one-off. So it’s worth it! For the record: there was no script, I never wrote it, and no actor was ever approached to play the next Doctor.
“You may disagree; fine, sit in that chair and wait to be proved right. You’ll wait a lonnng time Now I’m as excited as anyone to see what comes next! Will they keep the theme tune? Will they lose the blue box? Will they bring back the Drahvin?! It’s all up for grabs, which is so Doctor Who, exciting and unpredictable and new! Here comes the future, vworp vworp.”
“This decision was not taken lightly, and we know it will be disappointing for fans” – the BBC in a statement
Ncuti Gatwa bowed out as the Doctor last year and the Series 15 ended with Billie Piper regenerating into the iconic role.
The BBC has confirmed it will retain ownership of all Doctor Who intellectual property. BBC Studios will continue to handle the show’s global distribution, licensing and consumer products.
The broadcaster wrote in a statement, “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.”
It also confirmed that the previously announced Doctor Who animated series for CBeebies remains in production.