The Christmas special is gone. Russell T. Davies has stepped back from the showrunner job permanently. Bad Wolf Productions is out, and the BBC has thrown the future of the series open to a competitive tender process to find new independent production partners.
That’s a lot of moving parts for a show that usually just moves through time.
What it means for you, practically speaking: new episodes aren’t coming soon. The BBC has decided a major reshuffle is what the series needs to stay successful going forward, and reshuffles take time.
So there’s a gap. And there’s something to put in it.
The stopgap is an idle game with several Doctors in it
Head to the Eastside Games website and you’ll find the page for Doctor Who: Lost In Time, a new idle game built around exploring space and time to collect enough energy to save the universe. Very on-brand for the Time Lord.
The developer laid out what’s in it: “As the Doctor you will visit different classic locations in the franchise, encounter companions and oppose dastardly plans of the Daleks, the Cybermen and more. Get new characters to help you by collecting cards and level them up using Vortex Energy, Kyfred Gems and Henoch Matter.”
The resource economy is the spine of it. “All these resources are key to overcoming all the obstacles in your way,” the developer said. “Get Kerblam Boxes shipped to you when you complete a task and obtain your rewards. Be ready to jump into the TARDIS at any given moment and tap your screen to fix it so you can travel to your next Adventure as quickly as possible.”
An original story, not a rerun of the show
This isn’t a plot recap dressed up as a game. “Uncover a conspiracy across time and space trying to destroy the Doctor,” the developer said. “Embark in an original story involving several Doctors and Companions through classic locations of the franchise, facing infamous enemies with new plots.”
Multiple Doctors. Multiple companions. Familiar villains doing unfamiliar things.
It’s free on Android and Apple devices, which removes the only real argument against trying it. If it doesn’t land for you, you’ve lost nothing but the download.
What’s left is the waiting
Beyond that, it’s sitting tight until the BBC says more about what’s next. The show follows the Doctor and their companion journeying across time and space, meeting extraordinary friends and adversaries and widening the universe of the long-running British sci-fi series, and it would be a genuine shame if it didn’t come back in earnest before too long.
For now, the TARDIS is on your phone and it needs fixing. Tap the screen.
