Earlier today, the news broke that the BBC has pulled the plug on this year's Doctor Who Christmas Special and its current creative team. The plan had been for Russell T Davies to pen the episode, which would have explained why the Doctor regenerated into Rose Tyler.
The prevailing theory was that Davies, who also produced the show through Bad Wolf, had been given the Special as a means of wrapping up loose ends. From there, he'd have either started the show afresh (again) or left the door open for a new creative team to take over the series.
Instead, the British broadcaster has parted ways with Davies and Bad Wolf, and is actively seeking a production partner to develop the series after Disney+ walked away from the Time Lord amid low streaming ratings. Ultimately, Davies' time in charge of Doctor Who since the 60th anniversary specials aired became defined by controversial creative decisions and what some deemed overly "woke" storylines.
The plan from here seems to be a full-blown reboot, but how close did we come to getting that Christmas Special and did Davies have the next Doctor in mind?
Taking to Instagram (via SFFGazette.com), he wrote, "And so GOODBYE from me to Doctor Who but HELLO to a big new future for the show, as the BBC announces it’s putting the show out to tender. As a result, there won’t be a Christmas Special - we only cooked that up to guarantee a future when no one knew what would happen, but now we do know, there’s no need for it."
"You’ll have to wait a bit longer for new Doctor Who... but you’ll be waiting for MORE Doctor Who than a one-off. So it’s worth it! For the record: there was no script, I never wrote it, and no actor was ever approached to play the next Doctor. You may disagree; fine, sit in that chair and wait to be proved right. You’ll wait a lonnng time."
Davies continued, "Now I’m as excited as anyone to see what comes next! Will they keep the theme tune? Will they lose the blue box? Will they bring back the Drahvin?! It’s all up for grabs, which is so Doctor Who, exciting and unpredictable and new! Here comes the future, vworp vworp."
So, a Christmas Special was seemingly announced to try to force the BBC to make it? That or both parties wanted to show a level of solidarity while attempting to keep Doctor Who alive. Either way, the fact that there was never a script is also a little baffling, and comments like these and his recent casting tease—which was seemingly him trolling fans—have led to such friction between Davies and Whoniverse's followers
Still, he's clearly done with Doctor Who and doesn't appear to have any hard feelings about moving on. Davies' latest series, Tip Toe, has received glowing reviews, as did his 2021 show It's a Sin, suggesting both he and the Time Lord are better off without him captaining the TARDIS.