For Shearman, it’s not simply the shortage of a season 16 renewal, however a longtime successor to Gatwa’s Physician that makes the franchise really feel so directionless. Not simply by way of the flagship sequence but additionally the ancillary supplies that encompass it, such because the novels and audio dramas that broaden the world of the story.
“After 1989, we had, for years, a present Physician. Now, every little thing that’s ever going to be produced in Physician Who phrases goes to really feel retrogressive,” he mentioned “At the least with the New Adventures after which the BBC Books, you thought, ‘It’s the present Physician – McCoy or McGann’. Nobody’s going to start out writing Physician Who books with a Billie Piper Physician, as a result of nobody is aware of what which means. In a humorous manner, the closing moments of ‘The Actuality Battle’ appear to place a full cease on issues. We didn’t have that earlier than.”
To be honest, Shearman’s view concerning the present’s future is definitely some of the adverse we’ve seen because the finale aired earlier this yr. And the BBC itself has pushed again towards such catastrophizing, insisting that the broadcaster is firmly dedicated to the sequence, with or with out Disney’s involvement. But it surely’s positively uncomfortable for followers to learn such dire predictions, lots of which insist we’re about to endure one other indeterminate hiatus like that which adopted the Seventh Physician episode “Survival” somewhat than the outright cancellation that adopted the poorly obtained Eighth Physician film.
And whereas we nonetheless don’t know any precise information in regards to the sequence’s standing — or plan to return — it’s exhausting to totally ignore such worries. However since its inception, Physician Who has all the time been a franchise grounded in hope. It appears a mistake to desert that philosophy now.