The doctor who lives on! But who will be the new Time Lord, and is it Russell T Davies’ farewell? | Doctor Who

SSometimes, answering one riddle only raises more questions. That may be the case with the BBC’s announcement this week that Doctor Who will return to BBC One with a Christmas special in 2026 and a new series to follow, but the show’s international streaming partnership with Disney+ will end.

There has been no indication of who might play the Doctor in next year’s special, which will be written by Russell T Davies and produced by Bad Wolf with BBC Studios.

The final episode of the 2025 series, Reality War, featured the departed Fifteenth Doctor, Ncuti Gatwa, briefly regenerating as Billie Piper. Piper previously played her companion Rose Tyler, although it was notable that she was not credited as “The Doctor”, leaving the casting of one of British television’s iconic roles up in the air.

Lindsay Salt, BBC Director of Drama, said: “We would like to thank Disney+ for being fantastic global partners and collaborators over the past two seasons. The BBC remains fully committed to Doctor Who, which remains one of our most beloved dramas, and we are delighted that Russell T Davies has agreed to write another stunning Christmas special.”

“We can assure fans that the Doctor is not going anywhere, and we will announce plans for the next series in due course, ensuring the Tardis remains at the heart of the BBC.”

Fans have already begun to speculate, pointing out that the wording of the press release does not confirm that Davies will continue as director of the series, a role he has held – for the second time – since taking over the 60th anniversary special in 2023. It also does not commit the BBC to continuing to work with Bad Wolf in Cardiff, where the show has been presented since its 2005 revival.

Like many high-profile dramas, Doctor Who was seen as struggling, with linear transmission viewing figures declining. Episodes of the latter series regularly attracted fewer than 2 million live viewers on BBC One, a historic low for the long-running show. None of the ratings for this year’s episodes, even including iPlayer views after seven days, reached 4 million viewers, a significant decline from Jodie Whittaker’s era. The Disney deal did not enable Doctor Who to achieve the global success that both parties to the agreement had hoped for.

While the characters were a closely guarded secret, Disney+ ending its association with the show will inevitably have an impact on the BBC’s budget for a show that had a reputation in the 1970s and 1980s for wobbly sets and bubble-wrapped monsters, but had an expensive CGI-enhanced flare.

Davies once told Doctor Who Magazine that Disney’s reported figure of £10 million an episode for the final two seasons was “exaggerated”, with Bad Wolf executive producer Jane Tranter confirming that the deal with Disney provided us with “a really good budget”.

However, she noted that the budget was not on par with Game of Thrones or The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, highlighting one of the problems that Doctor Who faced. In the world of streaming, it competes with the likes of Andor and The Last of Us. It faces scrutiny from an international adult fanbase, while the BBC is also still trying to make it a program that will appeal to families at Saturday teatime and, more importantly for the future of the franchise, give younger viewers the path to becoming the next generation of lifelong fans.

The Gatoa era has been plagued by rumors of production difficulties behind the scenes, with his decision to leave the lead role after only 18 episodes seemingly necessitating reshoots for the season finale. Carol Ann Ford, who played the doctor’s granddaughter Susan in the first episode in 1963 and who returned briefly this year, recently suggested during an interview at the convention that only a portion of what she shot was used. It appears that Gatwa’s departure led to the cancellation of her story.

Millie Gibson, who played Ruby’s companion Sunday, recently spoke out about tabloid coverage calling her a “diva” on set, which reports claim led to her being dropped in favor of Varada Sethu as companion for the second Jatawa series. The former Coronation Street star claimed she found herself in a situation where she felt she could not speak up to defend herself in case she spoiled future plot developments for viewers.

A spin-off, The War Between Land and Sea, starring Russell Tovey, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Gemma Redgrave and Ruth Madeley, is expected to air on BBC One later in 2025, marking the end of Doctor Who’s association with Disney.

The BBC also previously announced that it was exploring options for an animated version of Doctor Who, aimed at a pre-school audience, which would run on CBeebies, independent of the main show.