The titular Time Lord in Doctor Who has survived everything from the eradication of his people to the end of the universe itself. Not even the farting Slitheen could keep our good Doctor down for long.
But here we are suddenly faced with a far bigger existential threat: the end of Doctor Who the show. Or at least, the end for now.
After weeks of speculation, the BBC has just confirmed that the upcoming Christmas special has been cancelled – and that's not all either.
"After careful consideration, the BBC, Russell T Davies and [production company] Bad Wolf have collectively decided not to go ahead with the previously announced Doctor Who Christmas episode," reads a disappointing statement from the broadcaster.
The decision was not made lightly, though. To set up a future series, the BBC has decided to "invest in the long-term future of the show" over a one-off special, "which ensures that when the TARDIS lands once more, it does so in all its glory".
Davies and Bad Wolf are going out in a blaze of glory too, or maybe not depending on how you feel about the most recent era of Doctor Who.
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While no official reason has been given as to why the modern era of Doctor Who must end, record low viewership numbers must have surely been taken into account (not to mention Disney pulling their funding earlier this year).
As such, new production companies who might consider investing in the show following Bad Wolf will likely be taking this all into account as well.
Still, Davies remains optimistic over the franchise's future, even if he himself will no longer be involved in it first hand.
"You'll have to wait a bit longer for new Doctor Who… but you'll be waiting for MORE Doctor Who than a one-off. So it's worth it!" said Davies on Instagram.
"Now I'm as excited as anyone to see what comes next!" he added. "Will they keep the theme tune? Will they lose the blue box? Will they bring back the Drahvin?! It's all up for grabs, which is so Doctor Who, exciting and unpredictable and new! Here comes the future, vworp vworp."
But what does that future look like exactly? Without a TARDIS of our own, it's impossible to know for certain. But rest assured that Doctor Who has not actually been cancelled, even if no new episodes or specials are currently in development.
Instead, the world's longest running sci-fi franchise finds itself in a strange limbo of sorts, adrift like a TARDIS in The Void.
The BBC assures fans that details on the show's production future will be announced in due course, with their director of drama Lindsay Salt keen to remind us that "the Doctor is not going anywhere".
But that's not like the Doctor, is it? Everyone's favourite Time Lord always has itchy feet, regularly embarking on adventures that span the entirety of time and space. It doesn't feel right then for his story to grow stagnant like this, even if it's not forever.
Since 2005, the modern era of Doctor Who has been in continuous production. Eight (canonical) Doctors have carried the torch across 15 seasons, reaffirming the show's standing across sci-fi and pop culture at large.
But even diehard fans of Doctor Who have been less than happy in recent years. Davies' return to the show he reinvigorated once before 20 years prior was initially a cause of celebration, but these last two seasons have had more than their fair share of detractors.
Ncuti Gatwa did a phenomenal job of wielding his charisma in the role of our new Doctor, and David Tennant's brief return to the show that made him a household name was widely loved too.
But for every standout episode like 'Lux', 'Rogue' and '73 Yards', there was also a 'Space Babies' or even worse, 'The Reality War', which unfortunately happens to be the last episode of Doctor Who we'll get to see for some time.
Such wibbly-wobbly ups and downs caused some to lose faith in the show, and a bizarre last-minute twist certainly didn't help matters either.
When it came time for the Fifteenth Doctor to regenerate in the season 15 finale, Gatwa transformed into, not a new actor as per usual, but Billie Piper, who previously portrayed the Doctor's companion Rose Tyler back when Davies first revitalised the show.
In a statement to the BBC at the time, Piper said: "It’s no secret how much I love this show, and I have always said I would love to return to the Whoniverse as I have some of my best memories there, so to be given the opportunity to step back on that TARDIS one more time was just something I couldn’t refuse, but who, how, why and when, you’ll just have to wait and see."
Piper's return came entirely out of left-field, causing many to wonder if Rose had somehow become the Doctor or if the Doctor had just taken on the visage of a fan-favourite character from yesteryear?
Whether she was sticking around for entire future seasons or just the special alone, the twist reeked of stunt casting regardless, pandering to fans who long for nostalgia over anything actually meaningful and new.
From the look of things, we'll never know the truth behind the "who, how, why and when" that Piper teased previously. In fact, Davies has now revealed (in that aforementioned Instagram post) that "there was no script" in place at all. "I never wrote it," he claims, "and no actor was ever approached to play the next Doctor."
Still, Davies previously told BBC Newsbeat that he'd shared plot details with BBC bosses that left them "with jaws agape, loving it". He also shared some cryptic clues with Doctor Who Magazine (via Radio Times), teasing that the Christmas special of Futures Past would feature the words "Bafflers", "Winternox", and "village".
More baffling than "Bafflers", the decision to end this current era before the special once promised to us has left fans feeling disillusioned with what might come next.
And it sure doesn't help that the last story in this run of Doctor Who ended with a poorly conceived spinoff where a man makes love to a fish and Kate Stewart pulls a gun on someone for littering.
Ending with The War Between the Land and the Sea is somehow even more disappointing than that damp squib of a finale 'The Reality War' gave us. But in truth, this just goes to show how much a major shake-up is needed, one that a mere changing of actor or showrunner can no longer provide.
As tough as it is to reckon with this limbo that the show now finds itself in, you could argue it's long overdue. Honestly, a few years off the air could even end up doing Doctor Who some real good.
Remember how special those early seasons were when Davies pulled this franchise out of the abyss two decades ago? While another 16-year break would be a tad excessive, time is needed to get the show's priorities in order once again. And if there's one thing Doctor Who can't get enough of, it's time.
The BBC said as much in their statement, explaining how they want to make sure that "when the TARDIS lands once more, it does so in all its glory". Initial disappointment aside, that's absolutely the kind of approach this franchise needs moving forward.
Give us a creative team who understand the lore yet don't feel beholden to it. Forget callbacks and fan service. It might sound obvious, but what's needed at this point is just good storytelling that draws on what makes the world of Doctor Who so unique.
There's a reason this mythology has endured as long as it has, yet it won't continue to do so if the best thing we can come up with is bringing back Rose Tyler as our new Doctor. The show will need to do a lot better than that if it's to compete in today's landscape, which is more varied and chock-a-block full of stories than ever before.
But endure it will. There's the Big Finish audio stories, of course, plus the CBeebies animated series, which is still in production. More important than that, though, is the fandom that continues to rally behind Doctor Who, expanding this already expansive world with zines and fan art and conventions that unite the Whoniverse as a community.
That's why Doctor Who "is not going anywhere", as BBC's director of drama put it.
Just as the Doctor always regenerates, so too will the show in some new unexpected form. How long that might take is hard to say, and its absence in the interim certainly is a loss to pop culture, no matter how much some may deride that last run of episodes.
Doctor Who is too big to simply vanish, too important to disappear entirely. And it's potential remains limitless, just like the inside of that timey-wimey box our Doctor is so fond of travelling around in. That's always going to be true, no matter where (or when) the TARDIS winds up next.
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After teaching in England and South Korea, David turned to writing in Germany, where he covered everything from superhero movies to the Berlin Film Festival.
In 2019, David moved to London to join Digital Spy, where he could indulge his love of comics, horror and LGBTQ+ storytelling as Deputy TV Editor, and later, as Acting TV Editor.
David has spoken on numerous LGBTQ+ panels to discuss queer representation and in 2020, he created the Rainbow Crew interview series, which celebrates LGBTQ+ talent on both sides of the camera via video content and longform reads.
Beyond that, David has interviewed all your faves, including Henry Cavill, Pedro Pascal, Olivia Colman, Patrick Stewart, Ncuti Gatwa, Jamie Dornan, Regina King, and more — not to mention countless Drag Race legends.
As a freelance entertainment journalist, David has bylines across a range of publications including Empire Online, Radio Times, INTO, Highsnobiety, Den of Geek, The Digital Fix and Sight & Sound.
