Doctor Who Writer Mark Gatiss Believes Show's Return 'Quietly Won't Happen'

Former Doctor Who writer Mark Gatiss believes the BBC’s current plan to reboot the show “quietly won’t happen.”

Doctor Who is currently off air without a lead actor, showrunner or production team, following the departure of star Ncuti Gatwa, head writer Russell T. Davies and both U.K. maker Bad Wolf and U.S. financial partner Disney. Previous plans to continue the series have now been ditched, with an embarrassing U-turn on the announcement of a one-off episode scheduled for this Christmas.

Officially, the BBC has said it is now putting the rights to produce Doctor Who out to “tender”, an official process where it considers bids from various production companies. But it has now been several months since this process was first mentioned, with no obvious further progress towards it actually beginning.

Now, Gatiss has reflected on the fact that the BBC was in a similar situation with Doctor Who before, back at the start of its lengthy hiatus during the 1990s. Then, it took 15 years for the series to fully return.

“The fact that Doctor Who had a second act of 21 years is absolutely amazing,” he began, speaking to Radio Times. “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.

“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.”

Gatiss concluded by reaffirming that he did not believe Doctor Who was gone forever, but that any expectation its current tender process would prompt a quick return seemed unlikely.

“I feel very doomy, but it’s true,” he added. “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.”

A previous report by Deadline suggested there was now hesitation among production companies to take on Doctor Who, despite — or perhaps because of — its legendary status. “You would have to be mad,” one source said. “[It’s a] bit of a nightmare for any producer in this market with the shadow of the Disney fallout,” said another. A third suggested the series’ budget would likely be around $3 million per episode — half of the budget for the episodes Disney previously funded, inviting difficult comparisons.

All of which tallies with comments from former Doctor Who Magazine editor Tom Spilsbury, who last year suggested it would likely be “five or six years before we see anything new,” as the series’ next incarnation is determined. “At which point, it will be the children of 2005 who will be bringing the show back, just as Russell predicted. As ever, time will tell.”