Doctor Who: Flux was almost axed, reveals Chris Chibnall
The former Doctor Who showrunner has revealed worries he had over the future of Doctor Who: Flux in light of the pandemic.
Doctor Who's Chris Chibnall has revealed that he had doubts over whether his final season of the sci-fi series was actually going to go ahead after the COVID pandemic.
Speaking to Radio Free Skaro about the upcoming season, Chibnall said that Doctor Who: Flux was almost axed. The former Doctor Who showrunner, who worked on the show from 2018 until last year, said: "There was a week where it was not going to be made. There was a week where I’d been offered another job."
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He continued: "And because the BBC was just like — the BBC studios — 'Where’s the money coming from? How are we going to do this? Is it too difficult?'
"And it literally went down to the wire of there was an hour on one day when it’s like, it was done. And yeah... there are certain things I had to do to get that season made. Because they couldn’t find a way to do it.
"And so yes, yes, there absolutely was [doubts], and it was like, 'Okay, we might have to be going. Okay, so Revolution, the Daleks. That's it.'"
He said Jodie Whittaker had a lot of other job offers, which she later gave up to create Doctor Who: Flux.
"Because it had moved in the schedule, she had stuff lined up for when we were supposed to finish shooting, but then was delayed by the pandemic," Chibnall explained.
"And you know, she’s in demand, and so she sacrificed a lot. Everybody sacrificed a lot... But yeah, we did have those moments. Yeah, completely. And there was, yeah, there’s some things I’ll just keep to myself."
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In the same interview, Chibnall also said that Disney’s involvement will allow Doctor Who to expand its titles.
He said: “That’s a really interesting discussion, and it will, because now the Disney thing is the perfect solution to opening up space, opening up budgets, opening up — being able to have places for spin-offs, which you know, we wanted to do, but there wasn’t the space or budgets for.”
The future of Doctor Who is an increasingly bright one, with rumours of spin-offs, new tech, returning characters and more already swirling to keep fans entertained.
Most recently, fans have been treated to sneak peek images of Ncuti Gatwa filming scenes in Cardiff, with anticipation for his first season (season 14) steadily building for its release in 2024.
Doctor Who is available to stream on BBC iPlayer with episodes of the classic series also available on BritBox – you can sign up for a 7-day free trial here.
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Authors
Morgan Cormack is a Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering everything drama-related on TV and streaming. She previously worked at Stylist as an Entertainment Writer. Alongside her past work in content marketing and as a freelancer, she possesses a BA in English Literature.
