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.

quote:

Originally posted by Graham:

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.

Agreed

Not cancelled. The Christmas special isn't happening but the show is out to tender - that's not cancellation. Just means Bad Wolf won't produce any more....

They may not be making a new "Doctor Who" right now, but David Tennant and Jodie Whittaker are working. Season 6 of "Only Murders in the Building" is filming in London and both former Doctors are onboard as guest stars, among a bunch of other British actors.

Appearing on this show has become the trendy thing to do for your bigger name high profile celebrities, some of whom generally not known to slum outside of films. The likes of Streep, Zellweger, Waltz, Rudd, Broderick, Delevingne, Schumer, Wiest, Sting and others have shown up in big and small roles over the years. With a different location, I guess the local talent wants to have a go, as they say.

I think either you like "Murders in the Building's" formula, or you don't. It's not so much about the season's murder story as it is about the banter between Steve Martin and Martin Short, with Selena Gomez thrown in for the viewers under 70. Either you find it amusing or annoying.

After multiple years it tends to run its course to annoying. I think the London change is supposed to freshen it up, but the formula will remain the same. The guest stars will have accents though.

The Media is saying Dr. Who and Star Trek Academy was cancelled because of "BAD WRITING"
not because they went "WOKE"
Hand up for anyone who believes that...

quote:

Originally posted by Daleks:
The Media is saying Dr. Who and Star Trek Academy was cancelled because of "BAD WRITING"
not because they went "WOKE"

Not being a Doctor Who viewer, I can't comment specifically about the show, although I am aware of what critics have said recently.

As a general comment, my opinion is that bad writing and the desire to include so-called "wokeness" are not necessarily two different things. One can lead to the other, or both things can be true at the same time.

You have existing characters in a long standing series and you have fans that like the show as it is. You have canon to the material. Yes, it's fine to introduce new ideas, but if you have to twist the storylines or the characters to fit those new ideas, the writers are going to have a problem.

I don't think it's so much a matter of labeling something as woke or not. I like it to be logical; within whatever was the logic of the story. When characters start doing things that is against their perceived nature just to advance the storyline, or just to hammer home someone's message, this is when you have bad writing. This is when you lose fans.