5 Ways To Get Through The Doctor Who Drought

For the past few years, we've been used to having new Doctor Who around this sort of time. Not this year, though. So what are us poor starved Whovians to do...?

5. Watch Some Other TV Shows

A shocking suggestion, I know - why should we have to settle for boring old regular telly instead of our precious Who. Well, actually 2016 has proven to be a great year for TV, with many shows around that should appeal to Who fans. The big hit of the summer is Netflix's Spielbergian sci-fi throwback Stranger Things, which you should definitely give a go if you haven't already. Plus, Neil Gaiman's seminal novel American Gods is coming to the screen very soon. There's also the long-awaited third season of Charlie Brooker's dystopian anthology series Black Mirror, which has led many to think he would be a perfect choice to write for Who. 



4. Rewatch Series Nine

In lieu of new adventures for Peter Capaldi's Twelfth Doctor, why not rewatch his last bunch of episodes? Perhaps you haven't seen them since they first aired a year ago? Or maybe you've watched each one twenty times since? Either way, the series is full of fascinating gems. There are out-and-out classics like 'The Zygon Inversion' or 'Heaven's Sent' that never get old and there are episodes that take a few viewings to fully digest, like 'Hell Bent' or 'Sleep No More.' If there's no new Who in 2016, why not pretend it's 2015 instead?




3. Buy From Big Finish 

TV Doctor Who might have shut up shop for the year but audio production company Big Finish are still producing several new releases a month. Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy all have a new audio out practically every month, while Paul McGann releases several boxsets a year. Big Finish have also just got the license to do modern Who stuff too. Now there are UNIT spin-offs for Kate and Osgood. A continuation of Torchwood with John Barrowman, Eve Myles and Gareth David-Lloyd and, most excitingly, a boxset of David Tennant and Catherine Tate back as the Tenth Doctor and Donna!



2. Read The Comics/Books

Alternatively, the Doctor's adventures in print are still going strong, as well. There are no new tie-in novels this year due to the lack of new episodes, but in their wake the BBC have released a few interesting anthologies. Like The Legends of River Song or The Twelve Doctors of Christmas. On the funny books side of things, US publishers Titan regularly produce comic books starring Doctors Four, Eight, Nine, Ten, Eleven and Twelve with the occasional multi-Doctor mini-series. Apart from those, the British Doctor Who Magazine has a 12 page comic strip in each of its monthly issues.




1. Dig into Classic Who 

If there's no new new Who, how about some new old Who? Because there is so much of it, there are bound to be some episodes from the original 26 year run of the show that you have never seen. Well, now is the perfect time to watch some of the classics. Not seen much of William Hartnell? Then stick on some of the grandaddy of all Doctors. Never given the Sixth Doctor a fair chance? Then go hunt down that gloriously garish Doctor's back catalogue. If you are mainly a fan of modern Who, then classic Who can be very different in pace and tone, but it is still recognisably the same show - with the same inventive spirit, the same warmth and, most importantly, the same brilliant lead character.



And, if all this still doesn't cut it, remember that 'proper' Doctor Who returns at Christmastime before a full series airs in the spring. Not too long to wait!