Doctor Who seems to be financially successful for the BBC. its global now, not least thanks to the internet and ability for people can watch it within hours of being on TV in England.

Its a totally different situation to 1989.

but..even with the series' ability to (literally) regenerate itself, surely it can't last for ever.. can it?

"There are worlds out there where the sky is burning, where the sea's asleep and the rivers dream, people made of smoke and cities made of song. Somewhere there's danger, somewhere there's injustice and somewhere else the tea's getting cold! Come on, Ace — we've got work to do!"

Doctor who as a concept can keep running forever, whether it stays on television is irrelevant.One way or the other the show has been running continuously for over 50yrs now, thats not going to change anytime soon, 50-100yrs people will know what doctor who is, as in one form or another it will still be around.

The Classic show stayed as staple Saturday evening viewing for 17 years before they started mucking about with the format and listing, and that was without the technology and other possibilities available today. I wonder how that equates in modern times, what would those 17 years be equal too...25-30??

I'd say we have got at least another 15 years of TV life in its current format and if the direction keeps refreshing, maybe longer. Then again, taking a hiatus when its at the top of its game, may be what it needs to keep the interest, take a couple of years out every so often and keep the fans begging for its return?!?

Personally I would prefer it if Doctor Who was given a break, for between two and five years.
Not yet though, maybe after Capaldi's run. Hopefully by then we would have had Doctor Who on reliably for a minimum of three years. No splits or waiting months on end just for one episode or special.
By that time it would have deserved a break. During which many, many ideas could be cooked up by the new team of writers etc.

Then when it does come back, it will be like 2005 all over again.
Or another idea is for the series to have a break for a couple of years, but do one film version.

Don't get me wrong, I love Doctor Who as much as anyone else. I just don't want the series to get tired, and end up going the way Star Trek Enterprise did. Now that would be a crime.

To be fair STE never had a fan base it needed, even Trekkies didn't really take to it. ST:NG for example could have quite successfully continued for many more years because the fan base was there...Buffy the Vampire Slayer is another that could have easily continued.

I don't think Doctor Who is going to go down that route because, frankly, I don't think they're ever again likely to hand the reins to someone who was incompetent as JNT to take the show and turn it into a parody.

Well, not quite- that was a hiatus of nine years after the film had failed to reboot it. To make it go on a break between two to five years for no other reason than to keep things fresh is ludicrous. As soon as that gap appears in the schedule, the BBC will fill it with other stuff and the mainstream viewer will give up.

The only reason it works for Sherlock is that people appreciate the actors' busy commitments and the episodes are essentially mini-movies.

Absolutely inevitable.

I suppose it's all about audience interest. The bbc will keep making it if the audience sticks with it. The audience will drop if it feels repetitive or if it gets silly or difficult to understand.

Without doubt it would have had it's day in it's current form within the next 5 years ( for my money )

But there is always scope for a re boot - happily

I imagine Moffatt will be very reluctant to give it up.

With that in mind, I'd have money on a year break (with specials) either next year or the year after, with a full series of Sherlock instead.

I'm amazed that he hasn't brought on board Gatiss yet as co-showrunner. They clearly share similar visions and have a very good working relationship.

Since the Doctor can go anywhere in Time and Space it will never run out of stories. If Doctor Who runs out of new stories, the whole of fiction runs out of new stories.

I actually think Moffat will prepare to give it up as soon as he settles on a worthy successor. He is well aware of the potential ignominy of being at the helm when the show goes on hiatus and being seen as the man who killed Doctor Who.

I think that the beauty of the show is that if ratings tank then they put the show away for a few years, let the series rest while other media takes over like big finish did with the doctor who audio books.

Once enough time has passed you are able to revive the show to a whole new generation while (mostly) satisfying the die hard fans that their favorite show is back.

I dont think that this current "new who" is near the end yet though but would love to have someone like big finish pick up with previous doctors maybe even use "Hurts war dr" 9 (unlikely I know) 10 & 11 seperate adventures.

My personal preference would be to see the expanded adventures of hurts doctor.
To see how he went from being young "made for war" to the older "no more" doctor.
Did he even use the name at all or did he go by some other name?
Did he face the master? maybe seeing what hurt dr was doing scared him into running away.

All just fanciful ideas but plenty of room to base further stories off in alternate media should the show leave the air waves.

I do think we may get another gap year in the next few years.

Hopefully after three or more full years of Capaldi but if Moffat leaves before Capaldi it could come within Capaldi's tenure.


As others have said they may try to do a Movie which would put the series on hold for at least a year.


In the Long term as long as the Ratings don't drop too low I can see the show lasting a good few years yet (with the occasional break).





The 10th Doctor had no idea that the Master had been brought back to life by the Time Lords so can't have encountered him during his War Doctor incarnation.


Unless of course the Master was brought back to life during the Time War, met the Doctor and then was killed off again (before unknown to the Doctor being brought back once more and then running away) but that seems unlikely.