The BBC has confirmed that Disney+ will no longer co-produce Doctor Who, ending their two-season, 26-episode partnership. Despite this, the network remains fully committed to the series and has announced a new Christmas special, written by showrunner Russell T Davies, set for December 2026.
Lindsay Salt, BBC Director of Drama, thanked Disney+ for their collaboration over the past two years and on the upcoming spin-off The War Between the Land and the Sea. She emphasized that Doctor Who remains one of the BBC’s most cherished dramas and reassured fans of the show’s enduring legacy.
“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 2026 Christmas special will mark a major return, following the dramatic Season 2 finale in May 2025, which featured the Fifteenth Doctor’s regeneration into a character played by Billie Piper. Specific details about this new iteration are still under wraps, but Davies has promised that the series will continue, with or without Disney+.
Fans can also look forward to the spin-off The War Between the Land and the Sea, premiering later this year. Further announcements about the next series of Doctor Who are expected in due course.
So what does this renewal mean for the series? Will Russell T Davies continue as showrunner after the 2026 Christmas special? And what about Billie Piper’s incarnation of the Doctor—will she truly be a new Doctor, or something else entirely? As for the next full-time Doctor, the BBC has remained tight-lipped. Fans will likely have to wait until Christmas 2026 to discover the answers to these lingering questions and see where the TARDIS will take us next.
THIS! IS! AWESOME!!!! Also 2026 is the Doctor Who TV Movie’s 30th anniversary so maybe RTD will work in some elements from Jody Houser’s Empire of the Wolf comic?
I suspect the special is already pretty much written. But that doesn’t mean he can’t make some changes to it between now and December of next year.