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Doctor Who Christmas Special Cancellation "Black Mark" on Show: Moffat

Though he's certain Doctor Who will "very, very definitely" return, Steven Moffat isn't a big fan of the Christmas Special being canceled.

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Article Summary

  • Steven Moffat slams the canceled Doctor Who Christmas Special as "a black mark" and says there should always be one.
  • Moffat insists Doctor Who has not been canceled and says the series will return: "very, very definitely."
  • With Russell T. Davies and Bad Wolf moving on, Doctor Who is now out to tender for a new creative team.
  • Moffat says this Doctor Who pause is not like 1989, arguing the BBC is actively seeking the show's future.

With the Christmas Special now coal in our stockings, Russell T. Davies and Bad Wolf moving on, and the long-running show now being put out to tender, it's going to be quite some time before we have any new Doctor Who on our screens. That means there's going to be a whole lot of time for folks to offer their thoughts on what went down, what it means for the future of the show, where Doctor Who should go from here, and more. Writer and ex-Showrunner Steven Moffat did just that during the Utopia 2026 convention, tackling the topic of the Christmas Special being canned and the show's being shopped for a new creative team.

Doctor Who
Image: Doctor Who YT Screencap

"Doctor Who has not been cancelled. Yes, Christmas has been cancelled. Well, to be clear, not all of Christmas, the day will still take place, even if Doctor Who's not on it," Moffat shared. "Quite honestly, I'm not altogether sure why they bother doing that, but yes, Christmas, and that's a black mark." On that topic, Moffat added, "I don't like the fact there's not gonna be a Christmas special. There should always be a Christmas special. There's not going to be that, but the show will return – very, very definitely."

As for those comparisons between what the long-running show is going through now and when it was shut down in 1989, Moffat says that there's a very important difference. "This is not like… those of us who are old remember it was 16 years of, 'Well, we'll maybe tell you something next week,' – it's not that situation, right? So, out to tender is not out to grass. Out to tender means actively seeking a future for Doctor Who," Moffat explained. "It may take a little bit longer. Oh, so what? How much Doctor Who do you need? I mean, on your iPhones right now is every episode ever made, except for the ones we accidentally lost! So watch those for a while."

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Ray FlookAbout Ray Flook

Serving as Television Editor since 2018, Ray began five years earlier as a contributing writer/photographer before being brought onto the core BC team in 2017.
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