Or my annual post on the state of the show.
Frankly, it's not a great one. I stopped reviewing the most recent season due to lack of time, but what early promise it had pretty much evaporated by the time the final episode aired - which I watched in the cinema. Also, being funded by Disney didn't improve security about plotlines.
Disney never really cared for the show - they seem to have largely washed their hands of the deal (made under their previous CEO) even before the news that they were not paying for anything else after The War Between the Land and the Sea, which will air next month, then promptly be forgotten about by most people. The BBC haven't really rolled out the marketing on that one either.
The claims that the show has gone "woke" have very little merit. What has occurred is a decline in quality and quantity. When you're down to eight episodes and a Christmas special a year, then there is far less room for clunkers. While there weren't really any of those, nothing was truly excellent, with the exception of "The Well". Some of it got rather silly. There is little in the latest run that I would go back to rewatch unless I had no other choice..
The ratings have been pretty poor - worse than 1989. The show now longer attracts any major media interest and I would not be surprised if Stranger Things beats it handily in audience figures now that Netflix is appearing in the Top 10.
The show is now a BBC-only production, reliant on the licence fee and whatever sales it can get. It is going to be operating with a considerably reduced budget. It is telling that Russell T Davies is only stated to be writing the Christmas 2026 special and no mention of the showrunner is made. I suspect we'll be getting someone new.
As for the 16th Doctor. Will it be Billie Piper or someone else? I don't know. To be honest, the show needs a regeneration in more ways than one.
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