Officially Dead Doctor, Dead Reincarnation

By Chris Snellgrove | Updated 6 seconds ago

In Doctor WhoOur titular Doctor is an alien who can reincarnate into a new body whenever he's about to die. It's a simple plot, of course, that explains why our hero is so invincible while adding a universal explanation for why this character continues to be played by new players. Over time, the franchise proved to be as useless as the Doctor himself: after Sylvester McCoy's final episode in 1989, the only screen Who content he got for a long time was that movie directed to TV in the '90s (and the less said about that, the better). However, the BBC revived the franchise in 2005 for a new season of Doctor Who.

The revival was wildly successful, recruiting new fans and making several Doctor Who characters (especially David Tennant) family names. In the end, things started to go sour: the audience reacted badly to the newcomers Doctor Who runners and stars, including Jodie Whittaker. Finally, the BBC took a big gamble by bringing back the original NuWho showrunner, Russell T. Davies, and partnering with Disney+. However, the two seasons were not well received, and the new series was quietly cancelled. Fans are holding on to hope that we will get a Christmas Special this year that will bring them together. Unfortunately, Davies recently took to Instagram to confirm that there won't be a special, he's left the series, and that the future of Doctor Who is completely uncertain.

Sorry, Kids: Christmas is Canceled

To understand why Doctor Who fans had high hopes for the Christmas special, you need to understand what kind of cliffhanger the most recent season left us with. After Ncuti Gatwa's Doctor sacrificed himself to save the day, he resurrected into a new body. Not just any body, either: revive as Billie Piper's character, Rose Tyler. During the 2005 revival, Rose served as the main Companion to both Christopher Eccleston's Doctor and David Tennant's Doctor. In the closing credits, instead of “Introducing so-and-so as the Doctor,” we got “Introducing Billie Piper.” Whether he was the Doctor, the Werewolf, or a manifestation of the TARDIS was left as a mystery for the upcoming season.

Unfortunately, it looks like that mystery will never be solved. Russell T. Davies, former member of the Doctor Who the show's first four seasons in a 2005 revival, returned to run two more recent seasons. Those seasons turned off fans a lot, and the show was quietly canceled. Fans are holding on to the hope that Davies will explain Rose's mystery and tie up some loose ends in the upcoming Christmas special. However, Davies took to Instagram to confirm that there won't be a Christmas special, that he's coming out again, and that there will be a new endless wait. WHO.

Rubbing Fans The Wrong Way

Apart from the usual sadness, Doctor Who fans reacted strongly to Russell T. Davies' Instagram post with a Dalek-like emotion: anger. Some of this anger was due to his strangely fluctuating voice. For example, after stating that he had never written a Christmas episode and no new Doctor was cast, Davies wrote, “You may not agree; well, sit in that chair and wait to be proven right. You're going to be waiting a long time.” It's weird to admit first how many people will say you're lying, dude! As with every message, this one seems to be out of control for some sobering news.

Mostly, though, fans were furious with Davies for simply admitting he didn't write a Doctor Who The special Christmas text and that the special was something he “cooked up… to ensure a future where no one knew what was going to happen, but now we know, there's no need for it.” First, about six months ago, Davies was teasing what had already been written in his Christmas special using the column. Doctor Who Magazine; later, Doctor Who Composer Murray Gold said Davies wrote “many” scripts. Now, Davies himself admits that he didn't just write anything else but that the first announcement of the special was complete nonsense!

Many Doctor Who fans are angry at Russell T. Davies for misleading them, and, arguably, helping to drive the franchise back down. Even if you love Davies, however, his Instagram post spelled out bad news for the long-running sci-fi drama. Doctor Who can't come back until the BBC finds a new production company with deep pockets to bring back the series whose UK viewing has fallen by around 82 per cent from 2008 to 2025. Over the years, the series has always taken on new forms and new characters as easily as its protagonist takes on a new face. Now, however, it is not clear whether Doctor Who as a franchise will be able to regenerate.