The BBC has cancelled this year’s Christmas episode of Doctor Who as its showrunner Russell T Davies announced his departure from the long-running sci-fi series.
The broadcaster said production of the programme would now be put out to “competitive tender” as part of its royal charter agreement.
The Doctor Who Christmas special has long been a fixture of festive TV in the UK, with the most recent Doctor, Ncuti Gatwa, making his full-episode debut in The Church on Ruby Road on Christmas Day in 2023. David Tennant debuted in similar style as the 10th Doctor in The Christmas Invasion in 2005.
In the 2017 Christmas special, Twice Upon a Time, audiences saw Peter Capaldi’s 12th Doctor regenerate into Jodie Whittaker’s 13th.
This year’s Christmas special was due to be written by Davies and made by the production company Bad Wolf. It would have been this year’s only episode of Doctor Who, following on from a cliffhanger ending last May, in which Gatwa’s Doctor regenerated into Billie Piper, who previously played the Doctor’s travelling companion Rose Tyler.
In its announcement on Wednesday, the BBC acknowledged that the news would be disappointing for fans, after it previously promised a Christmas spectacular for 2026.
“After careful consideration, the BBC, Russell T Davies and Bad Wolf have collectively decided not to go ahead with the previously announced Doctor Who Christmas episode,” it said.
The broadcaster said it had opted instead to “invest in the long-term future of the show”, so that, when the Tardis returned, it would do so “in all its glory”.
Doctor Who originally ran from 1963 until 1989, with Davies spearheading its revival in 2005 and remaining as showrunner until 2010. He returned in 2023, when the series became a co-production between the BBC, Bad Wolf and Disney.
The end of the Disney partnership was announced last October, and Davies’s departure – along with Bad Wolf – leaves the BBC free to seek a new independent producer to regenerate the series once again.
Davies posted on Instagram: “And so GOODBYE from me to Doctor Who but HELLO to a big new future for the show, as the BBC announces it’s putting the show out to tender.
“As a result, there won’t be a Christmas Special – 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.”
He said fans would have to wait a bit longer for a new Doctor Who, “but you’ll be waiting for MORE Doctor Who than a one-off. So it’s worth it.”
Davies added: “For the record: there’s no script, I never wrote it, and no actor was ever approached to play the next Doctor. You may disagree; fine, sit in that chair and wait to be proved right. You’ll be waiting a long time.
“Now I’m as excited as anyone to see what comes next! Will they keep the theme tune? Will they lose the blue box? Will they bring back [one-off 1960s antagonists] the Drahvin? It’s all up for grabs.”
The shake-up comes during a turbulent time for Doctor Who. The Disney partnership that coincided with the show’s 60th anniversary failed to revive viewing figures to the highs of the Tennant era, and Gatwa announced his departure from the title role after just two years.
The developments have prompted speculation about the show’s future, but the BBC insists it is committed to commissioning new episodes.
Nevertheless, the BBC insists it is committed to commissioning new episodes, and confirmed that a new animated Doctor Who series for CBeebies was in production.
