I can’t look, but I’m blinking, blinking tears away. Stephen Moffat is retiring as a Doctor Who show-runner. There will be no new episodes in 2016. How is a Whovian going to survive? However, there are ways to await the return of the Time Lord without crying too much.
Say it’s not like that, Stephen. After all, everyone knows that Moffat is lying. But I’m afraid this time it will pass the lie detector test. Moffat is passing the heavy mantle of the Doctor Who show runner to “Broadchurch” creator Chris Chibnall. According to Moffat, “it took a lot of gin and tonic to convince him of this.”
Hopefully Chibnall’s Time Lord will be worth the wait. But how is a Whovian going to survive until the 2016 Christmas special?
Here are six ways to deal with the Doctor’s long absence:
There’s no better chance for those too young to meet anyone other than NuWho to go back to William Hartnell’s original Doctor and Coal Hill school, where it all began in 1963. Netflix, mind you. There will be a ruckus if you put out episodes now.
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Better yet, add in the rest of the skipped episodes as well as Tom Baker’s costume selection.
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Enjoy checking out all the actors who left their inedible mark on the Doctor Who character. In particular, it will make Matt Smith’s rendition of Number 11 even more sensational. No other actor managed to embody all the previous Doctors as Smith did, from his old eyes to his “flutter,” as John Hurt’s War Doctor noted.
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You will finally “get” so many references in the rebooted episodes, over fifty years, that you missed before. Seeing the origins of the Daleks and the first invasion of the Cybermen, to name a few, will make them even more deliciously chilling. And you’ll melt the next time Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart saves the world for the last time.
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Meet all the companions. You’ll find some that will make Rose Tyler, the Ponds, and Clara Oswald run for their money. What other sidekick besides Sarah Jane Smith and possibly Captain Jack were worthy of your spin-offs, “The Sarah Jane Chronicles” and “Torchwood”? (Down boy. You too, K-9!)
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Immerse yourself in the hundreds of stories with all your favorite doctors and companions, including the recently released radio episodes by John Hurt and the one-movie but wildly popular 8th Doctor, Paul McGann. There are dozens of books, comics, and radio dramas, including the ever-popular David Tennant and Catherine Tate. “Donna Noble has been saved!”
There are more than enough new actions to keep you from suffering too much for a year. Knit a scarf if necessary. Better yet, dress up and attend a Comic Con, where you can meet some of your favorite Doctors and companions.
However, the burning question remains. What will become of Peter Capaldi? I haven’t had enough of his comical genius and those fierce eyebrows!