‘Doctor Who’s Future: BBC Ends Disney+ Deal, Announces 2026 Christmas Special
What To Know
- The BBC has ended its partnership with Disney+ for Doctor Who, leaving the show’s U.S. future uncertain.
- A new Doctor Who Christmas special, written by Russell T Davies, is confirmed for 2026, but there are no details about its plot and cast.
- The most recent season concluded with Ncuti Gatwa’s Doctor regenerating into a character played by Billie Piper, raising questions about the show’s direction and who she’s playing.
The future for Doctor Who in the U.S. remains up in the air, but it sounds like we do now know when the next episode will be.
The BBC has announced that its deal with Disney+ has officially ended — the two partnered for the 60th anniversary specials in 2023, followed by two seasons, which starred Ncuti Gatwa as the Time Lord. Along with this news, the BBC also revealed that there will be a 2026 Christmas special, written by Russell T Davies.
“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,” Lindsay Salt, Director of Drama, BBC said in a statement. “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.”
There are no further details available, including what that Christmas special will be about, who will star in it, and what to expect from future seasons.
Doctor Who ended its latest season with Gatwa’s regeneration. However, it’s unclear exactly what’s going on there given that the Doctor regenerated into a character played by Billie Piper, who starred as Rose Tyler, companion to the Ninth (Christopher Eccleston) and Tenth (David Tennant) Doctors. Neither Davies nor Piper have confirmed who she’s playing. Is she the Sixteenth Doctor? Is she Rose? Is she Bad Wolf? At least now that we know a Christmas special is coming, chances are we’ll get that answer, though without a cast list thus far, nothing is certain.
Doctor Who‘s 2026 Christmas special will be produced by Bad Wolf with BBC Studios for the BBC. It’s unknown at this time when or where it will air in the U.S. Could it go back to BBC America, where it aired prior to the Disney+ deal? Also unknown is if or when the revival era’s episodes will be available to stream in the U.S. again; they left HBO Max earlier this year.
This is far from the first time that there has been a break in Doctor Who. It first aired 26 seasons from 1963 to 1989, then returned in 2005.
What are you hoping to see from the new Doctor Who Christmas special? Let us know in the comments section below.
Conversation5 Comments
Please read the TV Insider Community Guidelines.
Register or sign in to join the conversation.
-
O
The BBC managed without Disneys money before, would like to see how any writer can make sense of the awful ending to the last episode. Agree with the constant music throughout and aiming for the younger audience, should appeal to everyone young and old.
3
-
O
Hooray for Disney leaving, hopefully the show is back to BBC only, run on a smaller budget and to learn its lesson it managed before on its own. To concentrate more on stories and to make it a family show of all ages and not a music pop video.
3
-
A
I do hope new episodes return to BBC America so that folks I know unwilling to subscribe to Disney+ get to watch it instead of writing it off.
2
-
B
Even if it doesn't they wouldn't be able to watch on Disney + deals over and done with maybe NETFLIX'S or another streamer will pick it up. But out of all the 2000+ era dr. who I disliked the Disney the most to much importance was put into FX and not enough into the story and what was put into the story went beyond being inclusive it shown a spot light on those it decided to be inclusive with most likely souring those that didn't agree with it.
2
-
-
B
Hopefully the Christmas special will resolve the ending of the most recent season. What direction the story takes after that we will see. The important thing here is the Show will continue, and there won't be a over decade long break.
Watchlist Easy access to only the shows you care about — all in one simple place
Alerts Only important notifications — when a show is returning, when it becomes available to stream, and more.
Special Offers Exclusive products we release related to your favorite shows and streaming services