There are now fewer than seven months left until Christmas, when Doctor Who was supposed to return: if the BBC isn’t yet running out of time, then it may well be running out of Time Lords. That is, at least, according to The Sun, who reported this week that the BBC’s sci-fi institution is struggling to fill the shoes abruptly vacated by Ncuti Gatwa a year ago; the planned Christmas special might be nixed as a result. A source claimed that producers have “found it difficult to find anyone who’ll take on the part of the 16th Time Lord”, in part because of the “baggage of the most recent series”. You’re damned if you Who, and damned if you don’t.
Confusion abounds over the ending of the last series finale – in which Gatwa’s character regenerated into Billie Piper, the original “companion” to Christopher Eccleston’s Doctor back when the series was first rebooted in 2005. Piper has claimed it was a last-minute decision to bring her in, and reports seem to suggest she will not be taking over as the lead of the series on a full-time basis. Really, though, the mess capped off a protracted period of turmoil for one of Britain’s most ardently followed TV shows, a years-long stretch of fan dissatisfaction, tonal swings, and behind-the-scenes upheaval. Where once playing The Doctor was a plum opportunity for an actor – in its own way, as storied and totemic as playing James Bond, or Bruce Wayne – stepping into the Tardis in 2026 has become a foreboding proposition.
