Let’s just say it: The state of Doctor Who, at the moment, is not exactly all that great. The series’s most recent season concluded with a shock regeneration and Fifteenth Doctor Ncuti Gatwa’s exit from the TARDIS after just two seasons. The next Doctor may or may not be (but probably isn’t) former companion Billie Piper. There’s an entire spinoff about Sea Devils, of all things, to get through next year. And the larger fate of the series remains in limbo while we all wait for Disney+ to decide whether they want to remain the BBC’s production partner and continue to air future seasons of the show.cnx.cmd.push(function() {cnx({playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530",}).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796");});Granted, Doctor Who’s future is probably not as bleak as this all makes it feel. While clearly an unintended break, this uncomfortable hiatus will one day end. The Piper twist (whatever it turns out to be) will become another piece of weird series lore. The BBC is still committed to the franchise, no matter what Disney decides to do. After all, this IP simply makes too much money to let it go out on such an awful note. It’s going to be okay, Whovians. Really. But if you need further proof of this fact, look no further than Prince William. Yes, really. His Royal Highness made a rare pop culture-themed official visit to Bad Wolf Studios in Cardiff, ostensibly to meet with some of the trainees supported by the Prince of Wales Bursary and Screen Alliance Wales. But while he was there, the Prince of Wales also got a private tour of the Doctor Who set, including a trip onboard the TARDIS. View this post on Instagram A post shared by The Prince and Princess of Wales (@princeandprincessofwales)This is, of course, the kind of thing that’s generally catnip for Anglophiles, Royal watchers, and Whovians. But William’s unexpected visit is also a much-needed ray of hope in a time during which Doctor Who fans haven’t exactly had a ton to celebrate. On the most basic level, it confirms that the TARDIS set is still standing, something many naysayers online, eager to insist the series is being quietly canceled, were insisting wasn’t the case. Doctor Who may not be filming anytime soon (sigh), but this isn’t the behavior of a production company that’s planning to pack it all in at any moment. Plus, His Royal Highness’s visit is also just great optics. William was officially in Cardiff in his capacity as the president of the British Academy of Television and Film Arts, where he recorded a message that was played during the recent BAFTA Cymru awards ceremony promoting the film and television industry in Wales. In what world is anyone letting the future King of England hang out on the set of an iconic TV show — that’s also a British institution, if you want to be technical about it — if said series was on the verge of being tossed in the trash for another decade? Spoiler alert: None. Granted, it’s not a lot to hang our collective hats while we wait for any snippet of official-sounding news about the flagship series’s future. (Or even confirmation about when The War Between the Land and the Sea will broadcast.) But, hey, even the tiniest glimmer of hope is no small thing.The post Prince William’s Visit to the TARDIS Set Is Great News for Doctor Who’s Future appeared first on Den of Geek.