If Doctor Who does go on a long hiatus following the 15th season, at least the void will be filled by… Doctor Who. On Thursday, the BBC announced a new, animated version of the show for preschoolers for its kids channel, CBeebies. Animated Who will operate independently of the live action main series, and “will see the Doctor travelling through time and space for the pre-school audience, solving mysteries and problems alongside their companions and other friends. And, of course, they may come up against one or two challenges on their way…,” per the BBC.
It’s probably not the news die-hard Whovians want right now, but it does seem like a good format for the show. Animation makes the possibilities of time and space limitless, and it’s easy to imagine a version of the show targeted at an even younger audience. Who lends itself quite well to a Magic Schoolbus format—in fact, some corners of the Internet have long speculated that Miss Frizzle is a Time Lord.
Patricia Hidalgo, Director of Children’s and Education said in a statement about the show, “Everyone is welcome at CBeebies, including the Doctor! This much-loved franchise entertains millions around the world, so it is only right that our younger audience get to experience the wonder and the magic of the Doctor in a brand new format. This is an extremely exciting opportunity, and we are looking forward to welcoming companies to pitch for this new project, as we continue our commitment and investment in the UK’s animation industry.”
We still don’t know what’s going on in the main series, nor what happened to trigger Ncuti Gatwa’s exit (we can only assume his regeneration was premature, given that he had previously spoken about filming a third season). While Disney and the BBC sort out their future together, the co-production partners will air the spin-off The War Between The Land And The Sea. The animated series is not set to stream on Disney+, but perhaps it will inspire a new generation of Whovians who will grow up to someday make their own version of the show, as current showrunner Russell T. Davies dreamed. After all, The Doctor meeting his companion when they were a kid or even a baby (see: Amy Pond, River Song, Clara Oswald, Ruby Sunday, Belinda Chandra…) and then returning to travel together as adults is a time-honored tradition.
