Well this is confusing…

As listeners of STARBURST RADIO will know, I was ridiculed in the last episode by Starburst Head Honcho Mike Royce for running the following news story:

[News comes in via the Twittersphere that the BBC have confirmed their order for more WHO. Okay, not exactly a shocker but comforting to know.

The Tweet came from show runner Stephen Moffat himself:

“14 eps + Matt DEFINITELY. I’ve got a plan and I’m NOT TELLING YOU WHAT IT IS. Now hush or River shoots you with her Spoiler Gun.”

So there you go. Thought you’d want to know.]

While it’s painfully obvious that WHO is too successful to be in any real danger, I thought it would be nice for the readers to know a.) Matt Smith would be returning and – more importantly – b.) just how many episodes there would be that year. Though I might have only just enrolled in ‘Whoniversity’, I am aware that the BBC scheduling treatment of the show is a little flaky sometimes – wasn’t there only, like, 3 episodes aired in all of 2009? That must have sucked! In summary – I thought a 14 episode confirmation from Moffat himself might have been something WHO fans would be very happy to hear.

Cut to today…

Not sure what went wrong, but news has now broke that Moffat might have been a tad Tweet-happy with the above post. Speaking recently, BBC Controller Danny Cohen had this bombshell to drop: there will be NO full season of DR WHO in 2012.

Huh?! But what about those 14 episodes that were promised?!

Well, turns out the Big British Castle are indeed planning to follow 2009’s strategy – a few specials scattered throughout the year, followed by a more traditional season run in 2013 (in time for the show’s 50th anniversary).

Oh. Cheers. It’s unclear whether plans have changed since Moffat’s announcement or whether he didn’t feel the need to do a follow-up Tweet explaining that you’ll have to watch those 14 episodes over a two year period.

Or, Mr. Royce might be right and I should never have ran it as a news item in the first place.

Genuinely gutted for you WHO fans on this one – I’d be livid if I was up to date with the show but I’m only on ‘The Dead Planet’ so far. Great stuff though!

Annoyed? Prefer the limited run of ‘Specials’ to full season? Let us know with your comments below!