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The gap will be the longest of the RTD 2.0 era, but there are a few good reasons for it. Firstly, it isn’t as though there’s been no Doctor Who Universe content on screens: there may not have been anything from the main show, but December 2025 did bring UK audiences the franchise’s latest spinoff, The War Between the Land and the Sea, which Davies created and co-wrote, meaning that took up a decent chunk of his time and the BBC’s production efforts (the Doctor Who spinoff will air internationally on Disney+ sometime in 2026). Outside of that, however, are major shifts for the show, with questions lingering over its future.
Doctor Who Will Return, But What Does Its Future Look Like?
Following Season 15, Doctor Who is in yet another period of regeneration. That is, in part, of course, because Ncuti Gatwa, who starred as the Fifteenth Doctor, decided to exit the series after just two seasons in the TARDIS. Technically, there is already a replacement, with Fifteen regenerating into someone played by Billie Piper, but the BBC has stopped short of officially confirming the Rose Tyler actress is now playing the 16th Doctor. It’s quite possible that the 2026 Special will introduce the real next Doctor, but either way, it’ll at least clarify what the plan for the show’s future beyond this is.
Just as important, if not even more so, is Disney+ cancelling its Doctor Who deal with the BBC after the two seasons and a spinoff. The team-up was a massive boon when it was announced, designed to give Doctor Who a bigger budget and an even greater audience in the U.S., but Disney clearly felt it wasn’t getting enough of a return on the series, which has not only struggled to recapture the ratings of its David Tennant/Matt Smith heyday, but also been inconsistent in quality.
