While many former Doctor Who writers such as Russell T Davies and Steven Moffat have been speaking optimistically about the show’s future, as the series is put out to tender by the BBC, Mark Gatiss has predicted that fans may be in for a longer wait than they expect.
Speaking with Radio Times as his U&Alibi detective show Bookish returns, Gatiss was asked about his hopes for the future of the sci-fi series, for which he has written nine episodes and starred in five.
“My two penneth is, I genuinely think… [F] Scott Fitzgerald said there are no second acts in American lives, and I think that sort of sometimes goes for showbiz as well,” Gatiss said. “I think the fact that Doctor Who had a second act of 21 years is absolutely amazing. Amazing!
“And for it to come back possibly even more popular than it was in the first run… but I think maybe it’s just time for a break, because all good things come to an end.”
Gatiss continued: “I think the BBC putting it out to tender is a perfectly great idea, but we’ve been here before. When it was cancelled in 1989 the BBC made a big statement saying ‘We’re committed to taking Doctor Who through the ’90s.’
“They put it out to tender then, and then it just quietly didn’t happen, and I have a feeling maybe that’s what’s going to happen.
“I feel very doomy, but it’s true. It’s fine. I think the fact it’s come back so successfully means it will come back again. It’s not a one-off 26-year (sic) run, but I think maybe it’s just time for a proper break, because you want people to miss it and have fresh ideas, and probably someone to run it who grew up with David Tennant as the Doctor, rather than Tom Baker.”
The tender process for Doctor Who has not yet been opened, but already two companies have expressed an interest in putting in a bid – BBC Studios and Dean Devlin’s Electric Entertainment.
Meanwhile, the BBC’s new director-general Matt Brittin has expressed his optimism regarding the show’s future, saying of the sci-fi series: “That’s a show that has regenerated multiple times in its 60-plus year history, and we’ll do so again.
“I think that’s one of the great things about the 100-year history of the BBC. We can do that, and we can creatively renew shows that people love, and we’ll be working hard on that right now.”
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