‘Doctor Who’ season 8 shocker: Peter Capaldi, cast to not be at Comic-Con

There are some things out there in the world of TV that we assumed to be a foregone conclusion, and one of them, clearly mistakenly, was that “Doctor Who” was going to have a substantial presence at San Diego Comic-Con this year. There is no show better suited for the convention in that it has been around for decades, has both a TV show and comics created about it, and started originally with a cult following.

But alas, it just was not to be this year. A rep for BBC America confirmed fittingly to Nerdist (site founder Chris Hardwick is an enormous Whovian) that there will not be a panel for the show this year. As for the reason why, the primary one is that Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman are preparing for a massive world tour in August to promote the new season.

Obviously, we feel bummed out for those who bought their Comic-Con tickets sitting around refreshing their pages months ago, hoping to be able to see the cast and crew in action. Other than that, though, we’re mostly only going to miss the panel banter. The process of getting into a panel has become so difficult these days that it’s exhausting for anyone to try. Most of the time, Whovians in San Diego have been forced to sit through three or four other panels, plus arrive very far in advance, just to get to the one they want. In other convention centers that clear the room after every panel, it’s much more of a crapshoot. Obviously it’s easy to tout the old-man attitude of “things aren’t what they used to be,” but at the same time how can we be surprised about this? Convention crowds aside, it is a good thing that shows are this popular, since it keeps them on the air. With this being said, we’d recommend finding a smaller con that your favorite star is appearing at if you are hoping for some sort of personal moment with them.

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Pboto: BBC