BBC responds to 'Doctor Who' scheduling complaints: 'Fans won't be disappointed'

Doctor Who has been a bit scarce recently. The long-running British sci-fi series only aired six episodes last year (counting the Christmas special), and only nine episodes (counting a 50th anniversary special) are currently planned for 2013. This hasn't sat well with some fans of the series, who have been contacting the BBC, demanding more of their favorite series and voicing their complaints about its scheduling. 

According to DoctorWhoTV, the BBC responded to one such complaint as follows: “Thanks for your contact regarding ‘Doctor Who’ broadcast on BBC One. I understand that you are feel there are insufficient programmes planned to mark the 50th anniversary of the series. I also note that you are unhappy with the way in which series 7 has been split into two parts. Whilst I appreciate your concerns, we haven’t announced what we have planned to mark the 50th anniversary of ‘Doctor Who’ yet, but we would like to assure you that fans won’t be disappointed. Additionally, please note that the decision to schedule series 7 in two parts was a creative one and we’re sorry you are unhappy about this."

It's essentially a "Sorry, but we're not sorry," response, and one that I ultimately respect. Sure, there's been a bit of a 'Who' shortage recently, but showrunner Steven Moffat has long been vocal about why that is: it's to keep Doctor Who from becoming a predictable institution, which will lead to stagnation. Whether or not he's right remains to be seen, but his motivation is at least respectable. 

BBC's response also indicates that we might be seeing a little bit more new Who for the show's 50th Anniversary -- more than we've currently been told that we're getting, anyway. I have strong doubts that the series will short-change such a massive event as a 50th anniversary, so I wouldn't be surprised if we got a two-part special or something even more massive. It looks like we're just going to have to stay tuned. 

Doctor Who will return on March 30 with the midseries premiere "Phantom of the Hex."