“The plans for Doctor Who are really simply this: the BBC and BBC Studios had a partnership with Disney+ for 26 episodes. We are currently 21 episodes down into that 26-episode run. We have got another five episodes of The War Between the Land and the Sea to come. At some point after that, decisions will be made together with all of us about what the future of Doctor Who entails.”
Rumors have been flying for ages that Disney isn’t planning to renew this partnership, but what everyone seems to be forgetting is that the BBC has said, repeatedly, that the corporation is firmly committed to the show. (“Doctor Who is going nowhere” is a direct quote!). And Tranter’s comments reiterate that fact.
“It’s a 60-year-old franchise. It’s been going for 20 years nonstop since we brought it back in 2005 [when I worked at the BBC]. You would expect it to change, wouldn’t you? Nothing continues the same always, or it shouldn’t continue the same always. So it will change in some form or another. But the one thing we can all be really clear of is that the Doctor will be back and everyone, including me, including all of us, just has to wait patiently to see when — and who.”
The plain fact of the matter is: It’s going to take some time to figure out what’s next for the show, and we all need to accept that fact. If decisions can’t be made (or at least announced) until after The War Between the Land and the Sea airs, then endlessly going around the same questions is deeply futile. The BBC and Bad Wolf seem to have been as direct as they can be that the show’s returning, while staying honest about the fact that we have no idea when that might be. And while it’s natural to feel nervous about all the uncertainty surrounding our favorite Time Lord, we’re probably just going to have to get used to dealing with it for some time to come.