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RTD Addresses Doctor Who Departure: "Time to Move On, That's All"

With a memoir set to hit this October, Russell T. Davies briefly addressed his departure from Doctor Who at the Attitude Awards in London.

When we learned that ex-Doctor Who Showrunner Russell T. Davies had a memoir coming out in October from Penguin Random House's Bantam Books, we figured that we wouldn't be hearing much from RTD until he started doing press for The Queerest of Folk: A Life in Television. Looks like we were wrong, because RTD did touch on his departure while speaking with The Mirror at the Attitude Awards in London.

When asked about his exit from the long-running series, Davies responded, "Time to move on, that's all." Between television shows, theatrical productions, promoting his upcoming memoir, and more, Davies isn't exactly sitting back and biding his time. "I just had 'Tip Toe' go out. And there's the 'It's A Sin' stage show, the dance show that's coming out. In February. It's quite strange with dance shows, with theatre shows, because they have lots of launches," he added. "It's in Manchester in February, then it goes to Cardiff in June, then it's Sadler's Wells in the autumn. So it keeps launching. I feel excited."

Doctor Who: RTD Discusses Tender Decision (Not The Christmas Special)

"It's extraordinary to see newspapers who should know better seeing the show has been canceled. It's the opposite. It's been put out to tender. And I understand that's an industry phrase. People might not understand what a show being put out to tender means. Equally, at the same time, those people are complaining on devices which have a search engine. Go and look it up. Put out to tender means, and this will happen to every BBC show," Davies shared during an interview with Gaydio. From there, Davies discusses how other programs have also gone out to tender, and then briefly explains how the process works. Basically, independent production companies pitch to lead the franchise moving forward (which would also include BBC Studios, since it's separate from the BBC), and a decision is made from there.

Now, you might be looking at the situation as glass-half-empty, and it's understandable because, at this point, no one sees Doctor Who returning to our screens before 2028. But Davies sees the move as glass-half-full, believing that the company whose pitch gets the green light will be looking to invest in the franchise for several seasons: "No one's going to apply for a tender for one year. It's not worth it," Davies noted, adding, "So I think this guarantees years of the program. But no, go ahead and call it canceled everyone. [laughter] You're wrong. You're literally wrong." Well, there you have it, folks. Davies "guarantees" a run of several seasons once Doctor Who gets back on our screens. The same Davies who offered updates on a Doctor Who Christmas Special that didn't exist. Just a little something to keep in mind…

"And so GOODBYE from me to Doctor Who but HELLO to a big new future for the show, as the BBC announces it's putting the show out to tender. As a result, there won't be a Christmas Special – we only cooked that up to guarantee a future when no one knew what would happen, but now we do know, there's no need for it. You'll have to wait a bit longer for new Doctor Who… but you'll be waiting for MORE Doctor Who than a one-off. So it's worth it! For the record: there was no script, I never wrote it, and no actor was ever approached to play the next Doctor. You may disagree; fine, sit in that chair and wait to be proved right. You'll wait a lonnng time 🪑 Now I'm as excited as anyone to see what comes next! Will they keep the theme tune? Will they lose the blue box? Will they bring back the Drahvin?! It's all up for grabs, which is so Doctor Who, exciting and unpredictable and new! Here comes the future, vworp vworp 🌪️," read Davies's Instagram post from earlier this year, after news first hit.

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