There’s big news concerning the future of Doctor Who, with Disney dropping the long-running sci-fi series, but the BBC announcing plans for Christmas 2026.
Doctor Who recently made moves in America by partnering with Disney in 2022, leading to bigger budgets, and the show streaming on Disney+ outside the UK and Ireland.
Showrunner Russell T Davis returned to the helm, Ncuti Gatwa played the titular Time Lord, but both ratings and reviews were mixed.
That’s resulted in Disney dumping Doctor Who, with that announcement happening on the same day that the BBC announced a Christmas special for next year.
Russell T Davies will write Doctor Who 2026 Christmas special
The BBC released a statement endeavouring to combine the bad news with something positive. Here’s how they’ve framed the Disney departure:
“Doctor Who will be back on our screens at Christmas 2026 with a special episode written by Russell T Davies. With Disney+ confirming they will not be partnering on the next season of the sci-fi show, the BBC remain fully committed to the show and will announce plans for the next series in due course to ensure the Doctor’s adventures continue.”
The Disney-Doctor breakup won’t be immediate, however, as Disney+ will still stream forthcoming spinoff The War Between the Land and the Sea.
That five-episode series stars Russell Tobey, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Jemma Redgrave, and Alexander Devrient, revolves around government agency UNIT battling the Sea Devils, and is expected to drop sometime in 2026.
As for who will play The Doctor in the 2026 Christmas Special, there’s yet to be an announcement on that front, but with Gatwa regenerating into Billie Piper at the end of his last episode, the smart money is on her.
“We’d like to thank Disney+ for being terrific global partners and collaborators over the past two seasons, and for the upcoming The War Between the Land and the Sea,” said BBC Director of Drama Lindsay Salt.
“The BBC remains fully committed to Doctor Who, which continues to be one of our most loved dramas, and we are delighted that Russell T Davies has agreed to write us another spectacular Christmas special for 2026.
“We can assure fans, the Doctor is not going anywhere, and we will be announcing plans for the next series in due course which will ensure the TARDIS remains at the heart of the BBC.”
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