Doctor Who has a huge cultural significance as one of the longest-running and most popular sci-fi television series in history, but the show’s influence has never been in any one place in the world as strong as it is in the UK.
This is specifically true in the holiday period when Christmas Special episodes are highly coveted by viewers and fans to alleviate their anticipation for a new season of the show. Or at least they were, until showrunner Chris Chibnall announced last year that they’re abandoning the usual Christmas Special in favor of a New Year’s episode.
Reactions to this decision were somewhat mixed, and to this day, it doesn’t really sit well with a lot of diehard fans. Even the Tenth Doctor himself, David Tennant, has recently voiced his criticism while appearing on a panel alongside Matt Smith, who succeeded him during Moffat’s tenure as showrunner and executive producer.
After Smith said that he’d love to do Christmas Special episodes for the rest of his life, Tennant quickly chimed in and expressed his dissatisfaction with the fact that the show is no longer producing these specials.
“That was the bit I used to be most proud of,” Tennant said. “Right in the middle of Christmas Day! They’re not doing that anymore! Why aren’t they doing that on Christmas Day anymore? What’s going on, people?!”
Of course, this is not the first controversial decision that Chibnall has made since he became the new showrunner in 2018, and fans aren’t exactly happy with a lot of changes to the series’ direction and continuity. One decision, in particular, which was to disband UNIT and Torchwood and replace them with secret intelligence services, has been met with a lot of criticism lately.
With the premiere episode of Doctor Who season 12 marking one of the show’s lowest audience figures in years, the series is certainly in a tricky spot, and all eyes are now on Jodie Whittaker and Chris Chibnall to see if they can finally manage to meet the high standards set by their predecessors.
