Copyright Inverse
The Doctor will return! After the surprise regeneration of the 15th Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) at the end of the Season 2 finale “The Reality War,” the future of the long-running science fiction TV series Doctor Who entered a period of limbo. Yes, the spinoff series The War Between the Land and the Sea has been filmed and is scheduled for release in 2026, and an animated project is on the way, but what about the actual show? Finally, after months of speculation, the future of Doctor Who has been confirmed. The show will return in 2026, with one major change: Disney will no longer have anything to do with the Whoniverse after next year. “With Disney+ confirming they will not be partnering on the next season of the sci-fi show, the BBC remain fully committed to the show and will announce plans for the next series in due course to ensure the Doctor’s adventures continue,” the BBC said in an official statement on October 28, 2025. The statement added that “Doctor Who will be back on our screens at Christmas 2026 with a special episode written by Russell T Davies.” 2026 Doctor Who Christmas Special Speculation Presumably, this one-off Christmas special will reconcile the most confusing twist in Doctor Who lore in several years: The moment at the end of “The Reality War” in which the 15th Doctor regenerated into a new character played by Billie Piper. The actress, of course, played the Doctor’s companion Rose Tyler in Seasons 1, 2, and 4 of the rebooted series from 2005 to 2008, and then in 2013, played the conscience of “the Moment,” also known as “Bad Wolf” in the 50th Anniversary episode “The Day of the Doctor.” Piper’s appearance as possibly the next Doctor seems to have been a last-minute change to the ending of Gatwa’s last episode, which, though called “Season 2,” is technically Season 15 of the rebooted show, and the 41st season of the show overall. Because the ending credits only stated “introducing Billie Piper” and not “introducing Billie Piper as the Doctor,” fans and experts alike have been scratching their heads as to what the next incarnation of the famous Time Lord means. Yes, there’s a precedent for Time Lords to regenerate into the visage of a former companion, but by not stating outright that Billie Piper is the next Doctor, it seems that the 2026 special will have a lot of explaining to do. As of this writing, the next ongoing season of Doctor Who has not been confirmed, nor does it seem likely that Billie Piper will remain the incumbent Doctor for a new season, which could air, possibly, sometime in 2027. It’s also unclear if Russell T Davies will remain the showrunner going forward, or if his writing of the 2026 special will serve as the end of his second tenure as the boss of Doctor Who. (Davies famously restarted the show in 2005, after the regular series ended in 1989.) Doctor Who U.S. Streaming Future Unclear Since 1963, Doctor Who has always aired on the BBC, and then found different avenues for distribution in the U.S. Famously, select episodes of Doctor Who began airing in the U.S. in 1972, primarily in syndication on PBS stations. The 1996 Doctor Who TV movie, starring Paul McGann as the 8th Doctor, aired on FOX in the U.S., and then, starting in 2006, the new era of Who aired on the SyFy Channel, before switching to BBC America in 2009. For U.S. viewers, the modern era of Who, from the end of the 10th Doctor (David Tennant), to the 11th Doctor (Matt Smith), the 12th Doctor (Peter Capaldi), and the 13th Doctor (Jodie Whittaker), all aired on BBC America until 2022. In the later years, this meant that new episodes of Doctor Who streamed on AMC+. In retrospect, the Disney+ era of Doctor Who was short-lived. Will the 2023-2025 episodes and specials of Doctor Who remain on Disney+ forever? What will the new streaming home of Doctor Who be in the U.S.? Because the U.S. streamer BritBox has debuted so many BBC shows in recent years — and currently streams classic 1963-1989 Who — it seems like a likely bet. But for now, nothing has been confirmed. Doctor Who will be back in one year, and just like in the 1970s, 1980s, and the early 2000s, U.S. fans will be struggling to locate the TARDIS anyway that they can. Doctor Who (2023-2025) currently streams on Disney+. Doctor Who (2005-2022) is available for purchase by season or episode on Prime Video, Apple TV, and elsewhere. Doctor Who (1963-1989) is streaming on Tubi and BritBox.
