Doctor Who May Be Facing Cancellation—And Nobody's Denying It
It's not the Daleks this time. It's something worse: budget cuts and bad ratings.
In the latest issue of Doctor Who Magazine, showrunner Russell T Davies didn't exactly ease fan anxiety. Writing in his regular production diary column, he casually dropped this:
"We don't know what's happening yet, and while everyone works that out, I'll take a pause on this page. Hopefully, we'll have news soon."
Translation? The guy in charge of Doctor Who doesn't know if Doctor Who is coming back. That's… not ideal.
The show just wrapped its 15th season since the 2005 reboot, and it's the second to stream exclusively on Disney+ in the U.S. after ditching BBC America. But it didn't exactly light up the charts — ratings have been sliding, and no one's pretending otherwise.
That's a problem, because Doctor Who isn't cheap to make. It's about an alien who can travel literally anywhere in time and space. That means big effects, big sets, and a big budget. And if not enough people are watching? Well, someone in a suit starts asking whether it's all worth it.
To be clear: nothing's been officially canceled. Yet. But when your own showrunner doesn't know the status of the next season, that's not a great sign.
Still, even if Doctor Who does vanish from screens for a bit, it's not disappearing entirely. There's a new spin-off (The War Between the Land and the Sea) coming this year, audio plays and comics are still ongoing, and the Doctor Who: Worlds Apart digital card game hasn't gone anywhere.
Plus, this is Doctor Who. Regeneration is kind of its whole thing. If the show takes a break now, it's probably just recharging before the next face swap.
But for the moment? The TARDIS is parked, the ratings are down, and the future's looking more "timey-wimey" than usual.