The news from the Whoverse is that Russell T Davies, who brought “Doctor Who” back from limbo in 2005, is leaving the series for a second time, after having passed the torch to Steven Moffat in 2010 and receiving it back again in 2022 from third showrunner Chris Chibnall.
And in possibly not unrelated news, Disney, which had partnered in producing the series with the BBC since Davies’ return, and has been the global platform for the series outside the U.K., is cutting ties with the show. The decision was foreshadowed by its disinclination to release the spin-off miniseries “The War Between the Land and the Sea,” which premiered in Britain at the end of last year and has been seen nowhere else, as well as by the cancellation of a previously announced 2026 Christmas Day special, an irregular regular feature of the show. (All but the last two seasons of the modern era have moved from Disney+ to AMC+, as of today.)
There are always question marks hanging over “Doctor Who,” which intermittently swaps out its lead and secondary actors as a function of its narrative premise and practical strategizing, but never quite so many as now. Up until now, the 21st century series has functioned as a family affair, with Moffat creating some of the best scripts, characters and concepts of the first and second Davies eras, and Chibnall, who wrote for “Who” under both Davies and Moffat, serving as head writer on the first two series of the spin-off “Torchwood.” (He also created the dark mystery “Broadchurch,” in which Tenth Doctor David Tennant and Thirteenth Doctor Jodie Whittaker, who became the series’ first female lead under his watch, both starred.) Succession was orderly. But no new actor has been cast to play the Doctor, no new showrunner announced, no production company attached — bids will be accepted per BBC policy — leaving the show in a creative limbo unseen since the 16-year interregnum between its classic and modern eras.
Davies, whose long previous career had included children’s television and creating the gay-themed “Queer as Folk,” took the mercurial spirit of the original series and expanded on it, understanding that from week to week, and even from scene to scene, “Doctor Who” could be a vehicle for comedy, tragedy, romance, suspense, horror and satire, in any combination — that it could go anywhere at all as long as it was guided by love for the character and the concept.
There is an effervescence to his seasons perfectly embodied by Tennant, who took the role in its second season, and again by Ncuti Gatwa, the most recent (and first queer Black) Doctor, who joined the show on Davies’ return. (Gatwa previously withdrew from the show after two seasons, saying, “I was getting old and my body was tired. … It takes a lot out of you: physically, emotionally, mentally, and so it was time.”)
I was happy to see Davies back — especially as he brought Tennant and companion Catherine Tate along with him, crossing canyons of canon to deliver them a delayed happy ending — and I really loved Gatwa’s Doctor, but I’m quite sanguine about their departures. Change is the essence of the series. There have been weak episodes in strong seasons and strong episodes within weaker seasons, but each new Doctor, going all the way back to William Hartnell in 1963, has brought something individual and interesting to the part. Fans have come and gone, to the point that the show disappeared for a decade and a half (while staying alive through novels and comics and radio dramas). But “Doctor Who” is a hardy plant, an institution in two centuries. It would take some effort, or at least serious inattention, to kill it. You might as well believe the BBC when it says that this do-si-do is about “ensuring audiences will enjoy the show for years to come.”
As to what will happen next, in the words of Nate Bargatze’s George Washington, “Nobody knows.” Davies himself posted on Instagram, “And so GOODBYE from me to Doctor Who but HELLO to a big new future for the show.” It may well look different without Disney money, but budgets have always determined the look and scope of the show. (Read Davies’ ”The Writer’s Tale” for a detailed look at making the show during the Tennant years.) It will certainly acknowledge the history of a series that is in many ways about its history. (“Tradition” is too limiting a word; as a cover for prejudice, it’s often the point on which naysaying arguments turn.) You will not see Daleks running a seaside hotel, or yelling “exterminate” unless termites have gotten into the foundation; Cybermen will not be going into public relations. But you will certainly see Daleks and Cybermen.
The Doctor will be sillier or more serious, calmer or crazier, more physical or more cerebral, and never again necessarily a white dude. (Though, like James Bond, he, she or they will be some version of British.) It will all come down to casting a charismatic lead and hiring a showrunner who understands and loves the show as much as his predecessors did and a team that approaches the job with a sense of responsibility, possibility and, above all, fun.
