The future of Doctor Who is now uncertain, after confirmation that the BBC has parted ways with its former showrunner and production company, and scrapped its previously-announced one-off episode due to be aired this Christmas.
In a statement today, the BBC confirmed it was putting the production of Doctor Who “out to competitive tender this year” — in other words, beginning a search for a new team to take the franchise forward, as current production company Bad Wolf will play no part in its future.
The news follows the departure of Disney as a co-funding partner, after a middling response to the series’ recent era from fans and critics alike.
Former showrunner Russell T Davies has since commented on the news via a post on Instagram, confirming a recent report by The Sun newspaper that his Christmas special was cancelled, and that no work on it had ever actually taken place.
“We only cooked that up to guarantee a future when no one knew what would happen, but now we do know, there’s no need for it,” Davies wrote. “You’ll have to wait a bit longer for new Doctor Who… but you’ll be waiting for MORE Doctor Who than a one-off. So it’s worth it!
“For the record: there was no script, I never wrote it, and no actor was ever approached to play the next Doctor,” Davies continued. “You may disagree; fine, sit in that chair and wait to be proved right. You’ll wait a lonnng time.”
Fans had been left fearing the worst after recent comments by Davies suggested an major update on the show’s future was imminent, and various hints that he had moved on from the franchise. Still, fans will likely question why his Christmas special could not have still been made in the meantime to keep interest in the brand going.
This is a topic the BBC’s official statement touches briefly on, though only to suggest that the scrapping of the episode would present more of a clean break. As many responses to this statement have already stated on social media, however, this means Davies’ cliffhanger ending with the reappearance of Billie Piper is still left unanswered, alongside hints at various other storylines (the threat of “The Boss”, the reappearance of Susan).
The full BBC statement lies below:
Doctor Who has remained in near-constant production over the past two decades, since Davies revived the show in 2005 following a lengthy hiatus. The series is now expected to take a lengthy break as its future is determined — with fans left to find out how long that wait might be.
When might Doctor Who return? Writing last summer, amid speculation the Disney deal was definitely dead, former Doctor Who Magazine editor Tom Spilsbury suggested it would likely be “five or six years before we see anything new”, as the series’ next incarnation is determined. “At which point, it will be the children of 2005 who will be bringing the show back, just as Russell predicted. As ever, time will tell.”
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at [email protected] or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
