THE BIG QUESTION: Do our favourite worlds sometimes need a rest?

Yesterday we received the news that the BBC has decided to cancel this year’s Doctor Who Christmas special. What’s more, showrunner Russell T. Davies and Bad Wolf are departing with it, the franchise being put up to tender.

Of course, Doctor Who has been through worse, and the last time the Beeb went public about looking for a production partner to steer the TARDIS into the future, we had years of glorious creativity that led to The New Adventures, BBC Books, Big Finish and, ultimately, the last 21 years of televised Who. I’m excited about the future of the show. One thing is certain: Doctor Who never dies, it just regenerates.

But Doctor Who isn’t the only long-running franchise facing questions about its future.

Televised Star Trek is on pause — as has happened repeatedly throughout its history — James Bond has been missing in action since 2021 and Star Wars has suffered its worst box office mauling in its long history. Even the once-mighty MCU is having a reboot this year with Doomsday.

Whether these are temporary setbacks, part of a natural cycle, or signs of something larger is open to debate.

Which leads me to this week’s big question for you, my faithful subscribers:

Do franchises sometimes need a rest?

Were they ever meant to be the transmedia colossi studios now want them to be? Does it help to sometimes take a step back and allow absence to make the audience’s heart grow fonder? Can — or even should — they maintain the constant hype cycle of the social media age?

Let me know in the comments!