I would love that, but I know it won’t happen, and that’s okay. Perhaps as the Episodecount reduces, they might want to try the Sherlock Format 3x 90 “Movies”. As of now, I doubt we will get to that Point for a while, probably sticking with the current format for a while
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No, I don’t think that is what the modern audiences want.
Why is the episode count always reducing?
I want more episodes!!
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Although, a more serialised series with the same locations used multiple times could be interesting, have a stronger arc, and save money.
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As much as I love the idea of spreading the showrunner’s work out among a few people(not just for Doctor Who), I don’t think that’s the world we live in. The BBC is a business and they want to hire one person to do it all(include write a significant portion of the episodes). Even if they wanted to hire more, their criteria for selecting a new showrunner is so strict that I don’t know if they could find more than one person. Also, like others have said, I think a writers room tends to make seasons feel less diverse in their storytelling and tone, which for me is why a lot of streaming shows feel like extended movies. Obviously I have no idea of how the BCC operates internally and a lot of this is assumptions, so maybe they will change it up and I’ll be positively surprised.
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Oh, me too and I am sure a lot of people feel the same way, in a perfect world, it wouldn’t reduce again but increase, but who knows. While I do adore Flux, I think if we ever get only 6 Episodes a Series, I rather would want them to do 3×90 Stories rather than do one Story for one Episode each. Oh, well, let’s hope for the best and that it doesn’t get smaller
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Yep. More episodes of the main show please. Not sure if it comes out of the same budget but we have a reduced episode count but a 5 part spin-off!
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People treat this like a major mystery but forget that a smaller episode count is the norm these days across the board in the streaming age - just look at most original shows on Netflix, Amazon Prime, Max and so on.
There are many reasons for this. One is cost: it’s expensive to produce high-end sci-fi and fantasy, so a lower episode count means a higher budget per episode to make it all work and look good. This is why Game of Thrones went from 10 episodes per season in the early seasons to 7 by the end of the show; they wanted to have a bigger budget to stage the big battles in the last season.
Second is workplace atmosphere: it’s no secret that RTD and his cast and crew want to avoid the constant stress and pressure they worked under during his first reign when pushing 14 episodes a year for five years straight nearly took a toll on him. Shorter seasons mean that they can allow themselves a bit more time to work on the episodes, which is better for both cast and crew and means that they can commit to pushing new seasons (semi) yearly. We don’t want to see a similar situation to Marvel’s visual effects department, which is constantly overworked and underpaid, and that is sadly visible in the end product.
Third is the general mindset of the streaming era. TV shows are made to be binged in one or two sittings these days, and that’s easier to achieve with shorter seasons.
Do we want longer seasons? Fine, but that might mean they don’t look as good or that they feel rushed, and we might have to wait two years between seasons again, or that we have a cast and crew feeling unwell from all the stress and pressure. Surely, a shorter season with high production quality and yearly releases is far better, with the addition of a cast and crew that isn’t overworked.
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So… if they were to give me the longer seasons I want, they’d have to give me the wobbly janky special effects I also want?
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I won’t lie, I’m a bit worried about the future of the show - more than I ever have been if I’m honest. Not one for histrionics though so I do always talk myself down, it’s just things I’ve been hearing don’t bode well.
However, the BBC can still continue it without Disney, as has been said, so if I was forced to say what I think will happen it’s that Disney will be out for a third season and then the bbc will need to seriously re-evaluate for what happens next. What form that takes will likely be a hiatus but for how long I wouldn’t like to say.
But any hiatus wouldn’t carry good will with some creatives, so if there were one without a regeneration then I doubt Ncuti would come back to do one if (when) the show eventually returned.
Like @deltaandthebannermen I’m more inclined to live in the moment and what happens happens. Ok, I haven’t enjoyed an episode since Rogue but despite the length of time that’s only 3 episodes ago and if I crunch the numbers I did like slightly more of the last season than I didn’t, even if I’m a bit critical now of the direction RTD seems to be going in following a finale which did, I must admit, sap a lot of goodwill I had towards the era.
But again, the Wilderness years proves Doctor Who never really goes away. It’d continue somehow even if (God forbid) Big Finish ever lost the licence. While I might be quite pessimistic at the moment I do know nothing is set in stone until it’s out in the open so while I might be inclined to believe whisperings myself, until anything is confirmed in concrete then it’s all to play for.
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I understand what you’re saying but…
We’ve been promised no more gap years. Yet with the unknown status of season 3 I don’t think he was right to give that promise. So we may yet still get a gap.
I don’t particularly care about expensive visual effects. I’d rather they didn’t have the T-Rex in the Christmas special and in exchange we got an extra episode. The cheap ones like Midnight are still amazing!
And as for overworking the main cast, I understand but also that’s their job? How did they manage to do so many episodes for like 55 years but now suddenly it is too difficult? And it’s not like they all had a rest in between, Ncuti was filming a movie! And we had 2 Doctor-lite episodes!!
And even so, I enjoy Doctor-lite episodes! I’d take those if it’s about giving them a rest! Some of my favourite episodes are Doctor-lite.
And if we are talking about giving RTD a break - well we have all said we would like him to write less of the episodes. Give that man a break!
As for binging… I also binged shows which have absolutely loads of episodes. I don’t think that’s the reason.
So I think whilst I agree with everything you said, I still think we can have more episodes and it wouldn’t be an issue.
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I think that we will see a counter-reaction and that the number of episodes per season will start to grow again. But I think that it will take a couple of years before that happens. But some day the suits have to get the hint that older shows are the most streamed shows every year because we get the time to get to know the characters.
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I am so tiered of television series that try to be movies. Why not just make great television instead!
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True, but then again, with Season 2 airing this year, The War between potentially next year and Season 3 hopefully in 2027, RTD’s promise is technically right. We get new televised Who content every year.
You don’t; I don’t; a lot of people here don’t. But we are fans who watch this show no matter what. But the BBC doesn’t make the show just for us fans; they want to appeal to a wider audience and get those casual watchers to tune in. And because the sci-fi and fantasy show field is so competitive these days, one way to keep people invested is to make sure that the show looks as good as possible (and don’t get me wrong; the Capaldi and Whitaker eras looked amazing with just a BBC budget, but they are not on the level of the current era). Sure, we don’t need to see a CGI dino in every episode, and I hope we see more budget-friendly episodes, because they are often some of the best, but if DW doesn’t stay on par with other competing sci-fi and fantasy shows, it may lose a lot of casual viewers.
But of course, great production values don’t replace the importance of great scripts, competent writers, and capable actors.
Well, the TV landscape has changed a lot, hasn’t it? Back in the Hartnell era they shot the episodes basically live a week before broadcast and it was like doing a stage show for television. These days TV productions are much bigger and require a lot more resources, time and people.
I agree!
Also hard agree!
I just added it as an additional thought. It’s probly not a reason for the changes.
Honestly, with the way things are, I don’t see this happening. Not with the inflation and the current atmopshere in the show business. Long seasons is a thing from the past. It’s like saying we are going to go back to black-and-white TV because people are tired of colour or that Hollywood is suddenly going to stop producing endless sequels/remakes/reboots/spin-offs and only focus on original movies because people are tired of watching the same stuff over and over again. Maybe they are, but the box office speaks differently. And in show business, money talks.
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I am so much more excited about this spinoff that the main show at this point if I’m honest.
Totally. This isn’t child actors with strict limits on how much they are allowed to work, I see no problem here whatsoever.
Someone needs to reign in RTD when he is talking 
The nature of the deal with Disney was two seasons with option for additional seasons (as far as we know). Making unsubstantiated promises… Is RTD going into politics? 
Yes. Very much this.
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Well if you take the “streaming platforms are deciding how to make shows based on the viewers” then this is the logical next step:
Netflix’s approach to filmmaking includes an unexpected directive: make sure viewers can follow the plot while folding laundry or scrolling their phones. According to an investigation by n+1 magazine, multiple screenwriters who have collaborated with the streaming platform reveal a surprising mandate from Netflix executives. The requirement? Characters must explicitly state their actions and intentions to accommodate distracted viewers who might be treating movies as background noise.
This isn’t what I want from Doctor Who 
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Yup, and I am not an optimist when it comes to this.
With the current TikTok generation growing up with shorter attention spans than ever before, the above will sadly become much more prevalent across all media, I’m afraid. This is what the current social media landscape with Instagram reels, TikTok videos, YouTube shorts, and the like is doing to us, and we are powerless to prevent it unless we force the big companies to do major changes to their algorithms.
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And this is actually one reason I’m glad that Doctor Who is owned by the BBC.
Their charter says:
Our mission is “to act in the public interest, serving all audiences through the provision of impartial, high-quality and distinctive output and services which inform, educate and entertain”.
The public interest, not shareholders’ interest.
Let’s hope they stick with it!
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I’m not sure this is fair bearing in mind it’s on record that actors like Patrick Troughton complained about the workload and Moffat and Chibnall both complained about the intensity. During the Hartnell era they wrote characters out so the actors could go on holiday.
I don’t think it’s ‘suddenly too difficult’ but more that they’ve actually taken steps to address the fact it has always been difficult.
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‘This gun that I have in my right hand is loaded’ 
if people aren’t watching TV, you don’t have to make it into bad radio… as @Tian says I hate that these days films are so long they want to be TV and TV is so short it might as well be a film. It completely misses the point of the two different mediums and what can be done with them
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I agree that RTD will stay as showrunner until Season Three. I don’t think he will leave completely, however. I think he will stay on as an executive producer, taking on more of a Kevin Feige-type role.
If The War Between The Land And The Sea is successful, then we will see more spin-offs and we will get a proper shared TV universe of stories.
Disney will stay on as the show’s international streaming partner, but as part of a new deal they will ask for more creative control. The next showrunner after RTD will be decided between the BBC, Bad Wolf and Disney.
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