The BBC and Russell T Davis confirm that the DR Who Christmas special has been cancelled, as yet no script had been produced and no actor found to play the doctor. Also Russell T Davis will be be leaving and the BBC will be putting production out to tender in accordance with its charter.

To me it looks as if no money was forthcoming or could be found so the plugged was pulled.

I only really know the Doctor Who series from the many card sets that were made and even then I'm only interested in the autographs. Topps did a good job when it had the license, but RA did even better with the quality of signers. I know Doctor Who plays on some channels in the US, but none that I subscribe to. I also know that there are US fans because they dress up at ComicCon, but I really never hear anyone talk about it.

From what I understand reading both card backs and other sources, Doctor Who show runners have taken a very progressive stance in the last few series. That's fine, unless it gets out ahead of the audience's ideas and/or the storyline gets consumed by the message. In movies and TV shows, there is a balance that has to be maintained between making something socially relevant and entertaining to the average person.

I think the BBC has lost the balance with Who and others. Certainly old viewers were complaining, some of them here occasionally, but I guess the BBC only noticed when the money stopped flowing in.

I was hoping for more cards, but I don't know how well they were doing for RA. Surely they are still holding more Who Doctor and Companion autograph cards in the vault.

My brother and I watched some "Doctor Who" in the 70's when it was paired with "Space 1999" on Saturday evenings. We couldn't get into it. I haven't watched it since but once you start losing the core audience, you have to know you're doing something wrong to the show. That doesn't mean you can't get creative with who plays the doctor. The show is Doctor Who, not Mr. Who.

You have to have good stories and maybe do some stunt casting to bring in new viewers. Let some time go by. Find some writer/director who has a feeling for the old show and more recent shows - somebody who understands what the fans like. Get somebody to play Dr. Who who looks like an old school Dr. Who, but then when that season is over, get somebody no one would expect. What about Elizabeth Hurley as Dr. Who? I would check out that show.

From what I have read, between the 1963-1989 original show, the 1996 film, and the 2005-2025 revival, there have been over 890 episodes.

Maybe after 890 plus episodes, the show has run its course ?

Maybe they could try "Dr. What" or "Dr. Why".
No, even better would be "Dr. When".
I'd watch that!

quote:

Originally posted by Tommy C:
From what I have read, between the 1963-1989 original show, the 1996 film, and the 2005-2025 revival, there have been over 890 episodes.

Maybe after 890 plus episodes, the show has run its course ?

At an average of 14 episodes a year, it's not exactly flooding the market. The problem with the later series - Capaldi onwards - was that the episodes were made with the showrunners "vision" rather than the Doctor Who vision. The actors were done a great disservice with poor stories.