The Future of 'Doctor Who' Sounds Like 2005
The BBC has released its terms for the tendering of 'Doctor Who,' and it seems the corporation wants to go back in time—21 years ago, to be precise.
After a long 16 months, it seems like Doctor Who is potentially on the road back. Months of speculation after the BBC's abrupt end to the current era of the show back in June have come to an end with the corporation's official release of the invitation to tender—an open call for production studios to pitch for the future of making new Who.
The process, like all good Doctor Who, is about time. Although the window to pitch is surprisingly brief—the invitation was released yesterday, September 17, with a deadline of October 2—the BBC will go over applications and only reveal what the future of Doctor Who will look like in March of 2027, ahead of an expected rollout in 2028 and 2029. That is, if any pitch is successfully decided on (it would seem an absolute disaster if not; considering BBC Studios is likely to pitch there seems a guarantee someone will be making Doctor Who by next year).
But the most interesting thing of all about the invitation isn't the production timeline. It's the BBC's broad gesture to pitchers about what it wants to see from them: a general suggestion of what the baseline for the new Doctor Who should be.
On the one hand, there are certainly things that are malleable. On the other, one big thing is certain: the BBC wants the 2005 era of Doctor Who back, by hook or by crook.