Ever since Doctor Who returned to our screens back in 2005, it’s brought us a Christmas special every year, even when the full seasons were on hiatus. So, we’d be wise to expect another one this December, right? Well, not quite, as we learned last week that in some rather shocking news, the BBC had cancelled it.
From what we understand, the writers have simply run out of ideas for Christmas-themed episodes after putting together so many, which is fair enough. We probably should’ve seen this coming, too, as ex-showrunner Steven Moffat had expressed some concerns with the specials in the past, saying:
“I sort of think we might have mined, and possibly over mined, every single thing we could about Christmas in Doctor Who and the last time we more or less ignored it.”
As expected, though, fans aren’t taking to the news very well and now, a petition has sprung up calling for the BBC to change their mind and give us a Doctor Who Christmas special. With a goal set for 1,500 signatures, it’s almost reached that point (the current number of people who’ve signed is 1,194) and below, you can see the case that it makes for the network to reverse their decision.
Chris Chibnall, the showrunner of Doctor Who, has indirectly informed the public that he will not be writing a Doctor Who Christmas Special. This move – that clearly sends the message “bah humbug,” – breaks 13 years of tradition, and easily lands Chibnall a cold spot amongst some of Christmas’s most notorious detractors, such as Ebenezer Scrooge or The Grinch.
The plans are to instead create a “New Year,” themed special, and forever leave alone the tradition of Christmas. This will air either on NYE or NYD.
In a recent poll of over 150 people, 8 of every 9 people asked said they’d prefer a Christmas Special to a New Years one, providing no obvious motive for this move.
Previous showrunner, Steven Moffat, once claimed that the show’s writers had run out of ideas. Though, for a brand new writer trying to bank on this as an excuse, many believe that this is totally unacceptable.
Moffat has said on the matter: “I sort of think we might have mined, and possibly over mined, every single thing we could about Christmas in Doctor Who and the last time we more or less ignored it.”
Another statement said that:
“BBC bosses have already made the bold move of shifting the entire series to Sunday nights so they won’t be scared about moving the festive special from Christmas to New Year.”
By signing this petition we will let him know how special the Christmas Special is to the British Public, and that it is more than just something he can ignore, but a family tradition amongst many of us.
Please share this petition and I’m sure that we can make the award winning writer of Broadchurch come up with a really good one for next year!
After all, who doesn’t wanna see Jodie in a Christmas Special? She deserves it as much as any other Doctor!
Sign and share, and together we can ensure that there is one next year, and that the tradition we all love lives on.
Frankly, this petition raises some good points and we imagine that many people feel the same way. Like we said, the news of the Christmas special being cancelled was met with a lot of backlash from the Doctor Who fandom, and understandably so. Unfortunately, though, a petition is unlikely to change anything. Especially at this stage in the game when the holidays are almost here already.
In any case, maybe it’ll have the BBC thinking twice when it comes to 2019, as the show just isn’t the same without its yearly Christmas special and we’d love to see what the writers could come up with for Jodie Whittaker’s version of the Time Lord.
