As Doctor Who is getting ready to debut its latest season on Disney+, the showrunner behind series provided a disappointed updates. Russell T. Davies believes that the series could go on a break in the near future. This would be disappointing for the large fan base that has followed the adventures of the Time Lord for years. The start of a new season of Doctor Who shouldn’t be surrounded by rumors that place the future of the project in jeopardy. While the BBC production has survived over the course of two decades (in its current iteration), it would be hard to predict when the Doctor would come back if he went away.
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If Doctor Who went on a break, there are plenty of reasons why the Time Lord could have the chance to return to television. The storytelling potential the show represents could prove to be a goldmine for any studio willing to back. Disney knew about the rich legacy Doctor Who has created over the decades it has been on the air, so the studio took a chance on the British classic by acquiring the international distribution rights for the series a couple of years ago. Here are some of the reasons why Doctor Who will be back in the TARDIS in no time if the rumors regarding a hiatus turn out to be true.
It Has Happened Before
Long-time Doctor Who fans might remember that after the Seventh Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) had his turn as the pilot of the TARDIS, the series went away for a while with no new seasons being produced for years. The only story featuring the Time Lord that was seen on the screen was a movie featuring the Eighth Doctor (Paul McGann). These versions of the character lived in the memory of the fan base that was so eager to tune in for more space adventures, but that wouldn’t be the case. Doctor Who went on hiatus, with the BBC deciding that they wouldn’t move forward with new episodes of the acclaimed series.
After that, Doctor Who fans had to survive like Star Wars fans did before the prequel trilogy breathed new life into the franchise. Watching old stories over and over again was the solution to fill the void left behind by the friendly alien, but that all changed in 2005 when Christopher Eccleston led the revival of the project as the Ninth Doctor. Since then, Doctor Who has been entertaining audiences for 20 years. If the series has come back from the grave once, there’s no reason to believe that a potential hiatus would be permanent.
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Another Streaming Giant Could Pick It Up
While Doctor Who does feature plenty of visual effects and elaborate set pieces, it doesn’t require a budget as high as the ones necessary to produce new episodes of The Mandalorian and Stranger Things. If any other major streaming platform wanted to acquire the distribution rights for it, it would be an already popular asset joining their library without the need for a very large budget. The streaming landscape has become very competitive in recent years, and if Doctor Who went on a temporary hiatus, a competitor of Disney+ could pick it up in no time.
Several other television series have been picked up by other networks or streaming services after cancellation. Brooklyn Nine-Nine was brought to a close by Fox after its fifth installment, but NBC decided to pick it up for what became an additional three seasons before the comedy reached its natural conclusion. The same could happen for Doctor Who if Disney+ and the BBC decided that they would no longer move forward with their agreement. Hopefully, viewership numbers for the upcoming new season of the series will determine if the Time Lord is here to stay.
It’s a Television Series That Constantly Evolves
The fact that Doctor Who has been around for six decades has only been possible because the series continues to adapt. Whether it’s coming up with ideas for television movies, telling stories set in different versions of the present, or creating new characters that reflect the taste of modern audiences, Doctor Who has always found a way to keep up with what the world needs from it. If the studio decides to send the Time Lord away for a while, the alien can come back stronger than ever.
It’s never too early to start speculating about the future of Doctor Who. A third season on Disney+ is still possible, but if that turns out to not be the case, fans of the historic show will always look forward to their favorite Time Lord making a comeback in one form or another. In the meantime, viewers can still sink their teeth into the current season of the series. The fate of Doctor Who will be determined in the upcoming months, as the second season featuring the Fifteenth Doctor steals the spotlight in the coming weeks.
Doctor Who returns to Disney+ on April 12th.
