Rather than waiting, Disney has confirmed it is officially exiting its partnership with the BBC over “Doctor Who” following two seasons together.
The show will thus return fully to the BBC, and with it comes the news that a new Christmas Special is being made for the end of next year, which will be penned by showrunner Russell T Davies.
The news ends months of speculation as to when, rather than if, Disney would exit the show following an underwhelming reception on the streamer.
Lindsay Salt, director of drama at the BBC, said in a statement:
“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’. 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.”
The end of the second season saw Ncuti Gatwa’s departure as the Time Lord, his fifteenth version of The Doctor regenerating into actress Billie Piper, who played companion Rose during the Christopher Eccleston and David Tennant years.
The nature of her version of The Doctor isn’t known yet. The most likely scenario suggested by fans is that the 2026 Christmas Special will be a one-off with her in the role before regenerating into the new ‘regular’ The Doctor.
The other possibility, if they can get him, is that David Tennant’s still alive 14th Doctor will come back into the mix and potentially reunify into one ‘Doctor’ again before the regeneration. Whether Davies will still be involved after the special remains unknown.
The spin-off “The War Between the Land and the Sea” is still set to air on Disney+ and BBC One sometime in the near future.
Source: Variety
