Somewhere Else the Tea Is Getting Cold

So it's finally been confirmed that Doctor Who is on hiatus. Again.

They don't use that word. It's "out for tender." But nothing's in production and it's looking like we'll see a pretty clean break from the show as it has been the last 20ish years. And it's unlikely we'll see new Doctor Who before 2028.

I expressed my disappointment with the last couple seasons of the show when it ended a year ago. In the meantime, my disappointment mellowed into resignation, with a bit of trepidation about the upcoming Christmas special. Now that the Christmas special is no longer upcoming, I'm feeling a bit more sanguine.

When Doctor Who went "on hiatus" the first time, I was just getting into the show in a big way. I'd started collecting Doctor Who Magazine regularly. WXXI in Rochester was just starting to get new episodes in a reasonable timeframe. And then it was over. No-one was really saying anything. I remember DWM speculating about the possibility of another series, but nothing ever came.

Then we started getting the New Adventure novels, which I bought religiously. I clung to rumours of an American TV series. I started collecting the VHS tape releases. I read the comics. I became a more enthusiastic Doctor Who fan than when there was new Doctor Who to watch. Probably because there was no new Doctor Who to watch.

I would have loved a season 27, since it seemed like seasons 25 and 26 were really onto something cool, but what we got instead in the Wilderness Years ended up being probably way more inventive, and it was pretty instrumental to making the show that came back in 2005 as good as it was.

So it's sad news, but I can't help but hope that it paves the way for something better to come later. New people bringing fresh ideas to a show that's raised an entire new generation of fans over the last twenty years. I'm confident it'll be back and I'm hoping whoever ends up taking it on takes the time they need to make it as good a show as I know it can be.