Will there ever be a point in time when there’s no new Doctor Who coming? In 1989, with the conclusion of the serial “Survival,” Whovians experienced that exact phenomenon: a period of wilderness years in which the only new Who between 1989 and 1996 was found in forms that weren’t on the TV screen. And then, after the 1996 TV movie failed to spark a renaissance, it wasn’t until 2005 that the series fully returned. And, for the past 20 years, in a sense, Whovians have gotten comfortable. But might Doctor Who be headed for another hiatus?
According to new rumors published by The Mirror, the current incarnation of Doctor Who, shepherded by showrunner Russell T Davies, is headed for a “big pause” after the 2025 “Season 2” concludes in two weeks. The report cites “insiders” who claim that Davies has “already planned the next two seasons, having almost completed scripts for series 16 and with stories for the 17th series worked out.” (Series 16 and 17 translate Season 3 and 4 in the new post-2024 number system.)
The rumor that’s bigger, and backed up by some confirmed statements, is that it’s unclear if the BBC’s partnership with Disney+ will continue after 2025. Before the latest season of Who launched, Inverse confirmed with Davies himself that “There's no commission of Season 3 yet. There are no serious conversations about anything because the series doesn't exist yet. But I love this job. I love staying in it. I'd be very happy.”
Essentially, outside of rumors, the truth is that Davies has publicly said that the future of Who is unclear. He even admitted on David Tennant’s podcast that, “There's thinking about that, there's conversations about that,” in regard to his successor. So, while there’s no confirmed fire about a change or hiatus for Doctor Who, there is certainly a decent amount of smoke.
Interestingly, the endgame for all of this could result in new eras of Doctor Who ending up very much like old Doctor Who. If Disney+ no longer is the US distributor for the show and pulls its extra funding, then Doctor Who goes back to how it was before 2023. According to The Mirror, “that if Disney departs, it might not have as big an impact as feared by some fans.” And that’s because the big claim is that the Disney money is spent on the technical side of the show, not on the actors or the writing.
If Who is headed to another hiatus, it certainly won’t be the end of the series. Doctor Who has survived moments like this before, and it will certainly live to regenerate another day.
