Allons-Y! Doctor Who Finally Confirms Return Date And Current Status Of Disney+ Partnership

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It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster year for Doctor Who. After a particularly thrilling season finale, the show’s future felt unclear. While fans were disappointed to hear Ncuti Gatwa was leaving, the possibility of Billie Piper returning generated a lot of excitement. Everyone was eager to see her back, but the timing remained a mystery.

It’s been a long time coming, and even the showrunner, Russell T. Davies, didn’t know what was happening for a while! But now we finally have some real answers about where Doctor Who is headed, and how it’s all working with Disney+. I’m really excited to finally understand the plan!

Doctor Who Will Return In 2026

Good news for fans: Doctor Who is coming back with a new episode in 2026! The BBC has confirmed that Russell T. Davies is writing a Christmas special, and it looks like Billie Piper will be returning to play some version of the Doctor. The network also said they’re developing more plans for the show’s future, which they’ll share when they’re ready.

The BBC Confirmed Disney+ Has Exited Its Co-Production

The BBC and Disney+ had been discussing a collaboration to co-produce Doctor Who, but that partnership is now over. Lindsay Salt, the BBC’s Director of Drama, confirmed the end of the collaboration when discussing the future of the show.

We’re grateful to Disney+ for their fantastic partnership and collaboration over the last two seasons, and we’re excited about our upcoming project, The War Between the Land and the Sea.

We don’t have any information yet about how the recent changes will affect the 60th anniversary specials or the two current seasons of Doctor Who available on Disney+ in the US. They might stay on Disney+ unless another company buys the rights to move them.

More On Doctor Who

Ncuti Gatwa’s time as the Doctor on ‘Doctor Who’ felt very inclusive for LGBTQ+ viewers, which was fantastic. However, I’m disappointed that a major plot point wasn’t fully resolved.

It’s a bit of a mixed bag, honestly. I’m relieved we won’t have to worry about secret talks delaying new episodes of Doctor Who anymore, but I’m also a little worried about the show’s budget. Disney was bringing a lot of money to the table, and now that they’re gone, it’s unclear if that funding will be replaced. Maybe another big company will step in, but it’s also possible others are hesitant after seeing Disney leave.

The main reason for all the uncertainty seemed to be that Disney+ wasn’t happy with how many people were watching Doctor Who, believing it hadn’t done well enough on their streaming service. This may have caused them to reconsider automatically renewing the show for a third season, leading to the current delay and a confirmed release date of Christmas 2026.

There’s speculation that Ncuti Gatwa left the show because Disney+ was hesitant to renew it for another season. Filming for his departure scenes began in early 2025, which unexpectedly allowed Billie Piper to join the cast.

We still don’t know exactly what’s coming for the future of Doctor Who, but we now have a date for its return! Mark your calendars for December 2026. In the meantime, you can watch the spin-off series The War Between the Land and the Sea on Disney+. As a longtime fan, I’m used to waiting for new seasons, but it’s good to have something to look forward to!

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2025-10-28 19:14