Doctor Who Announcement Teased After Reports of the Christmas Special’s Delay

After months of silence, Doctor Who‘s Russell T. Davies has finally teased an upcoming announcement of the show’s Christmas Special. Incredibly, it’s now been over a year since the end of Doctor Who Season 15, and we haven’t really had any news about the show’s future since then. The BBC remains committed to Doctor Who, and a Christmas Special was supposed to be releasing this year; there’s been no news of it beginning production, though, and the fandom has grown increasingly concerned amidst rumors the Special has been delayed to next Easter.

Speaking on BBC Radio 2, showrunner Russell T. Davies has finally teased there will be news soon. “You will get an announcement,” Davies confirmed. “There is a press release lumbering through the BBC which, as you know, is like the Jurassic period and 57 people have to sign off on every single word. I promise you in about a week, two weeks, there will be some sort of press release, and yet I can hear the gears slowing down even as I say that. You know this place!” It’s unclear whether Davies was responding to comments about the Christmas Special, or who the next Doctor will be.

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What’s Going on With the Doctor Who Christmas Special?

There have been recent (unlikely) rumors that the BBC is struggling to find the next Doctor. The more likely issue lies in funding, because Doctor Who has become an expensive production, and the BBC faces substantial problems with its current funding model. Most are expecting a co-production deal with another streaming partner after the BBC’s partnership with Disney fell through, and Netflix appears interested. Such an arrangement takes time, so it’s possible this is holding the show up.

It’s possible Russell T. Davies is attempting to play with the fandom, trying to keep everything as secret as possible. Some of his comments in Doctor Who Magazine certainly open up that interpretation, and Bleeding Cool has recently reported claims along these lines from a contact who’s in the loop. If that is indeed the case, it currently feels like a miscalculation; such an approach would consign Doctor Who to months of contradictory rumors, with the fandom getting increasingly frustrated by the negative publicity.

This mysterious “press release” will, of course, be eagerly anticipated. At the very least, it should provide certainty whether Doctor Who‘s Christmas Special is still happening, or whether it’s been pushed back to Easter as per recent reports. Doctor Who Season 15 ended with a gimmick where Ncuti Gatwa’s Fifteenth Doctor apparently regenerated into Billie Piper, who previously played companion Rose Tyler; she’s a placeholder, so a new Doctor is coming. Don’t expect that to be announced anytime soon, whatever this press release actually involves.

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