{"id":727390,"date":"2026-06-10T12:43:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T12:43:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/727390\/"},"modified":"2026-06-10T12:43:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T12:43:09","slug":"doctor-who-christmas-special-2026-canceled-russell-t-davies-exits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/727390\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Doctor Who’ Christmas Special 2026 Canceled, Russell T Davies Exits"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tThe BBC<\/a> is no longer going ahead with a \u201cDoctor Who<\/a>\u201d Christmas special this year as planned and is seeking new production partners. <\/p>\n

\n\tShowrunner and writer Russell T Davies<\/a> and producer Bad Wolf have officially exited the series as the BBC puts the show out to competitive tender. \u201c\u2018Doctor Who\u2019 remains an important part of the BBC and this tender underpins the BBC\u2019s continued commitment to \u2018Doctor Who\u2019 ensuring audiences will enjoy the show for years to come,\u201d a release said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\n\tTherefore, the previously announced Christmas special will also not be going forward. \u201cThis decision was not taken lightly, and we know it will be disappointing for fans, but in order to set the show up for future series, it was decided that rather than bridge the gap with a one-off special, we are choosing to push forward to invest in the long-term future of the show which ensures that when the TARDIS lands once more, it does so in all its glory,\u201d the release stated.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn a post on Instagram, Davies said goodbye to the show, which he led from 2005 to 2010 and again since 2023 in tandem with BBC\u2019s co-production pact with Disney+. When Ncuti Gatwa departed the role of the Doctor after just two seasons last year, Disney+ exited the partnership <\/a>and the series\u2019 future has remained uncertain ever since.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cAnd so GOODBYE from me to Doctor Who but HELLO to a big new future for the show, as the BBC announces it\u2019s putting the show out to tender. As a result, there won\u2019t be a Christmas Special \u2014 we only cooked that up to guarantee a future when no one knew what would happen, but now we do know, there\u2019s no need for it,\u201d Davies wrote. \u201cYou\u2019ll have to wait a bit longer for new Doctor Who\u2026 but you\u2019ll be waiting for MORE Doctor Who than a one-off. So it\u2019s worth it!\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHe added: \u201cFor the record: there was 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\u2019ll wait a lonnng time \ud83e\ude91 Now I\u2019m 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 the Drahvin?! It\u2019s all up for grabs, which is so Doctor Who, exciting and unpredictable and new! Here comes the future, vworp vworp.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tGatwa\u2019s final episode of \u201cDoctor Who\u201d in May 2025 saw his Doctor regenerate into Billie Piper, who previously played companion Rose Tyler from 2005-2006, though it was never confirmed if she was set to be the next Doctor. <\/p>\n

\n\tIn a statement to the BBC at the time, Tyler said: \u201cIt\u2019s no secret how much I love this show, and I have always said I would love to return to the Whoniverse as I have some of my best memories there, so to be given the opportunity to step back on that Tardis one more time was just something I couldn\u2019t refuse, but who, how, why and when, you\u2019ll just have to wait and see.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The BBC is no longer going ahead with a \u201cDoctor Who\u201d Christmas special this year as planned and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":727391,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[64,63,1576,77006,134,352157],"class_list":["post-727390","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-bbc","tag-doctor-who","tag-entertainment","tag-russell-t-davies"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/727390","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=727390"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/727390\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/727391"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=727390"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=727390"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=727390"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}