David Tennant’s Doctor Who Return Reportedly Discussed As Part of Major Relaunch Plans
It’s a tough time to be a Doctor Who fan. Viewership has been dropping for years, and the BBC has finally put the world’s longest-running sci-fi TV show out for competitive tender. Whovians initially panicked, fearing Doctor Who had been cancelled, but the truth is more prosaic; under the BBC Charter, the national broadcaster is required to put 100% of eligible shows out for tender by the end of next year. Even flagship series Strictly Come Dancing will go out for tender in 2027.
It seems studios are preparing their bids, with The Times (via Cultbox) reporting multiple conversations. Apparently Dean Devlin’s Electric Entertainment has had preliminary talks with the BBC, and has even reached out to Tenth (and Fourteenth) Doctor David Tennant to discuss the idea of bringing him back. Tennant has a good history of working with Electric Entertainment, starring as a villain in the 2018 thriller Bad Samaritan.
What’s Really Going on With Doctor Who?
The report is raising a few eyebrows in the fandom. Cultbox note the BBC has yet to post its official Invitation to Tender (ITT) document, which formally begins the process of inviting pitches. Some are going as far as to suggest the BBC is unethically negotiating before the tender has been posted, and that this could be in breach of charter. In truth, it’s difficult to say; the BBC has long acknowledged there are preliminary discussions prior to posting an ITT, simply because the broadcaster needs to speak to studios to assess the market. So I’d be wary of assuming the BBC is in breach of charter, when we don’t know how advanced these talks are.
The Doctor Who tender is potentially quite a problematic one. It’s easily the most high-profile show the BBC has put out to tender yet, and few journalists were familiar with the process – meaning initial reports were very confusing indeed. Recent comments from former showrunner Steven Moffat suggested he believed studios were already preparing their bids, though, which suggests we shouldn’t be surprised to hear off-the-record discussions are currently taking place. Interest in Doctor Who‘s tendering process remains high, explaining why details of these conversations seem to be winding up in the public domain.
If one studio is expressing interest, then it’s reasonable to assume others are doing so as well. Personally, as much as I love David Tennant, I have to say that I’d be happier to see a bright new future for the show rather than an appeal to nostalgia by bringing back a fan-favorite Doctor. Yes, there is precedent; David Tennant returned to Doctor Who for three specials during Russell T. Davies’ recent (second) tenure. But the so-called “RTD2” era was far from a succession in terms of viewership, leading to the untimely end of the BBC’s partnership with Disney+. I’d prefer something a little fresher.
