On Friday evening at WonderCon 2024, I attended “The Future of Doctor Who” panel, in which a group of experts on the series– including Patricia Miller (better known as writer River Alexandra Song), Julie O’Malley, Cody Shoberg, and Kristi Schoeman, along with along with moderator Sandro Monetti from CNN– discussed what to expect from this long-running British science-fiction television series as it debuts on Disney+ and beyond.
I was handed the button pictured above as I entered the room for the Doctor Who panel. It began with the participants discussing how many seasons Ncuti Gatwa might play Doctor Who, and then they turned to “How will social issues feature into future Russell T. Davies stories?” as the next subject up for debate. Then they theorized that Doctor Who could possibly return to the big screen after catching on internationally due to Disney+ exposure, and they fan-casted the lead role among major actors: Timothy Chalamet, Tom Hiddleston, and Emily Blunt were all names that were thrown out as possibilities.
The next question posed was to predict which will be the next Doctor Who spinoff to be released: most panelists agree on UNIT. They then took a poll as to whether or not David Tennant should continue returning to the Doctor Who franchise, with the results being in the positive. The panelists also predicted that actor Matt Smith could potentially return to Doctor Who, but didn’t think that Tom Baker, Peter Capaldi, or Christopher Eccleston would ever reprise their roles. Then the panelists discussed which plot threads they would most and least like to see in the future of the series, with most of them concurring that they didn’t want any more romance between Doctor Who and his companions. The panel wrapped up with the final question, “As you get older, how do you reflect on what Doctor Who has meant to you and your life?”
For more coverage from WonderCon 2024, check right back here at LaughingPlace.com