Still waiting for that Doctor Who writer’s next project? Here’s the message

If you thought the latest Doctor Who chatter was all rainbows and regeneration energy, Mark Gatiss has just brought a bit of raincloud to the party. The longtime contributor to the Whoniverse — nine scripts, five on-screen roles, decent innings — was out plugging his new detective drama, Bookish, when he decided to get frank about the BBC’s next move with their flagship sci-fi.

The Tender Situation

The BBC is about to open a new tender process for Doctor Who, which basically means they're hunting for the next creative outfit to steer the TARDIS. You might have heard some peppy chat from ex-showrunners Russell T Davies and Steven Moffat, who've both talked up the show's future prospects. Gatiss, though? Not having it. He’s looked back at old BBC promises to keep Doctor Who “going through the ’90s” after its 1989 axing, noting that, in the end, the series just quietly disappeared until 2005.

As Gatiss told Radio Times: "When it was cancelled in 1989 the BBC made a big statement saying 'We’re committed to taking Doctor Who through the ’90s.' They put it out to tender then, and then it just quietly didn’t happen, and I have a feeling maybe that’s what’s going to happen."

So, less ‘Allons-y’ and more ‘let’s not get too excited’. It’s far from the optimistic noise you hear elsewhere, but hard to argue with the man’s sense of history.

Should Doctor Who Take a Breather?

Gatiss does give it credit: reviving Doctor Who for a second round that’s run more than 20 years is “absolutely amazing”. In his eyes, it even bounced back with more popularity than ever. But at some point, all good things, etc. He reckons it could be time for a break — let people miss it, maybe even bring in someone who grew up with David Tennant’s Doctor, not Tom Baker’s (he’s got a point, the next generation isn’t going to stay kids forever).

Here’s how he puts it: “You want people to miss it and have fresh ideas, and probably someone to run it who grew up with David Tennant as the Doctor, rather than Tom Baker.”

He even chucks in a reference to F. Scott Fitzgerald’s line about “no second acts”, implying maybe we've wrung as much as we can out of the show for now — but, being Doctor Who, even the end doesn’t always mean the end. Gatiss figures there’ll be a comeback down the line. Just not any time soon.

• The BBC last put Doctor Who out to tender in 1989, only for the revival to evaporate before anything materialised for 16 years.