By the time Season 9 of Doctor Who regenerates on TVs around the world in September, fans will have been waiting more than ten months to see what kind of time-spanning shenanigans the latest Doctor will get up to in his second year. But if recent reports are to be believed, we’ll be waiting a lot longer to get Season 10, as it might not even come out in 2016. What kind of dastardly Dalek is behind this?
So what would make current showrunner Steven Moffat disappoint and anger fans who expect to see yearly seasons of the hit sci-fi drama? Sherlock, my dear Watson. According to the satirical magazine Private Eye, whose background info on behind-the-scenes BBC news is usually legit, Moffat’s commitments to his other series, the beloved detective drama Sherlock, will stop him from producing a “full series of Doctor Who in 2016.” So, I guess that’s a win for those who prefer Benedict Cumberbatch’s highly perceptive Holmes to Peter Capaldi’s Twelfth Doctor, but it could be a huge blow to everyone else.
Now, the fact that “full series” is being used here is interesting, as that could mean several things. One, it’s possible that Season 10 could be pushed from a late summer start date to one that would have the latter part of the season being released in 2017. As well, it’s possible that a potential delay in getting Season 10 to audiences would be buffered by the release of a Doctor Who special or two, such as those that came between the Eleventh and Twelfth Doctors. I’d be all about a Halloween episode, or some other holiday-infused installment besides Christmas, since we got one of those in December.
The report – which also threw some shade on BBC Wales’ head of drama Faith Penhale – was caught by BleedingCool, who said that this Season 10 announcement comes as Moffat and the BBC are possibly butting heads, with Moffat getting pressured to step down as the Doctor Who showrunner and head writer. That’s something that a sizeable section of the fanbase has been clamoring for as well, and a seasonal delay certainly won’t win him any new fans. But then, this wouldn’t be the first time that a large gap occurred between seasons in the modern era of Doctor Who, so maybe the backlash wouldn’t be as bad as I’m thinking.
Following a brief trip to theaters for a re-airing of the two-part Season 8 finale, Doctor Who Season 9 will hit the BBC and BBC America, complete with what sounds like a stellar appearance from Game of Thrones’ Maisie Williams, on Saturday, September 19. Hopefully something official will come out about Season 10 soon, so we can all either cheer over this report being debunked, or damning Moffat’s name if it’s proven true.
