It’s been rumored for months and now it has become reality.
Disney+ will be exiting the Tardis and will no longer be involved with Doctor Who after partnering on two seasons with the BBC plus a spin-off of The War Between The Land and Sea.
The BBC just confirmed that the show will continue and will return with a Christmas special in 2026 penned by showrunner Russell T. Davies. We understand details of future seasons will be announced in due course along with an animation for pre-school children.
BBC drama director Lindsay Salt thanked 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,” she added. “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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Rumors have been swirling for months that Disney+ would exit the deal, which initially ran for two seasons plus the spin-off, totaling 26 episodes once The War Between the Land and the Sea airs next year.
Davies’ regenerated Doctor Who has returned with a bang over the past couple of years and a bunch of big stars but it hasnt necessarily rated as well as the BBC might have hoped, and it didn’t appear to be making such a big splash on the other side of the pond for Disney+.
More than a year ago, our deep dive spoke with connected sources who said the show’s future with Disney+ was hanging in the balance, and these rumors only ramped up as the months wore on and the initial deal neared completion. At the same time, Ncuti Gatwa, the 15th doctor, exited the show under something of a cloud, seemingly handing over the keys to a familiar face in Billie Piper’s Rose Tyler. Gatwa later blamed burnout for his exit, which didn’t do much to ease the cloud.
But the BBC has always made clear that the show will go in with or without Disney. Last week, Jane Tranter, the show’s EP and a close friend of Davies’s, lambasted a “rude” former Doctor Who writer who had said the iconic sci-fi show was “dead as we’ve ever known it.”
Tranter’s Bad Wolf production outfit, which was given the keys to the Doctor Who contract when Davies took on showrunning duties for a second time, will produce the Christmas special. BBC Studios continues to sell the series around the world.