Doctor Who… Xmas Special in 2026

[Morrus]

The BBC has confirmed there will be a 2026 Christmas Special, followed by a new series. No clue who the new Doctor will be.

Doctor Who future confirmed as BBC sets Russell T Davies written 2026 Christmas Special

Russell T. Davies will write a Doctor Who 2026 Christmas Special, the BBC has confirmed, along with news that their Disney+ deal is over. Read more.

www.empireonline.com

Also The War Between The Land and the Sea spinoff is coming this year, not next year. So, really soon.

If I had to guess I reckon they’ll get Billie Piper back for the Xmas Special before regenerating into the ‘real’ next Doctor. But that’s pure speculation.

 

[Voadam]

If I had to guess I reckon they’ll get Billie Piper back for the Xmas Special before regenerating into the ‘real’ next Doctor. But that’s pure speculation.

It would be really weird if they did not get Billie Piper back for at least the Xmas special.

 

[payn]

Whoa, wait, what...? Ncuti is out already?

 

[Morrus]

Whoa, wait, what...? Ncuti is out already?

Not been watching, huh?

 

[Morrus]

It would be really weird if they did not get Billie Piper back for at least the Xmas special.

Well I figure she’s not up for moving to Cardiff again and doing a full series. So she’s not the next Doctor. But I think they could get her for one episode as in ‘interim’ Doctor.

 

[payn]

Not been watching, huh?

I want to, but I dont have D+ here in yank country.

 

[Tonguez]

Whoa, wait, what...? Ncuti is out already?

Ncuti made a career decision to quit early and do other stuff.

I suspect the xmas special will be Billie Piper as Not-Doctor on a search for actual Doctor.
(Im still going with my theory thats she's an avatar of the TARDIS)
It would be great to see Susan Foreman come back too

Im looking forward to The War Between The Land and the Sea, a few more spinoffs in the DrCU could be good
 
No idea who Id like to see as the new Doctor

 

[Kaodi]

At this point basically any British actor with a moderate dose of comedic chops could be the Doctor, right?

Not that I actually watch any Doctor Who outside of seasonal bookends and specials, so my opinion on the matter might be suspect, XD .

 

[overgeeked]

I do hope Billie does it for at least a special.

But you could argue it’s a CYA situation. They had to put someone’s face in, and Billie agreed. Watch the end of the last episode again. It ends with the regeneration energy still flowing around her. They could just as easily swap in another face after the “Oh, Hello.”

 

[Staffan]

Whoa, wait, what...? Ncuti is out already?

Basically, there were a lot of uncertainty about whether or not Disney were going to continue partnering with the BBC on Doctor Who, which in turn meant the BBC couldn't plan for further seasons – it's hard to make plans when you don't know what the budget is going to be and things like that. And Gatwa is an actor that's very much in demand, and being committed to a show that is going on a hiatus for a year or two and may or may not be renewed after that puts serious dampers on his career opportunities. So he asked to be released from his contract, which meant they had to do a whole bunch of last-minute rewrites and reshoots for the season 2 finale.

I don't know what the financials are for BBC, but I don't know that the extra money from D+ did the show any favors really. I mean yes, the production values were greater, but did those really matter? I, for one, would be perfectly cool with Tennant1 or Smith production values, with good writing and a return to seasons of reasonable length (13+ episodes plus Christmas specials). Heck, I'll take Eccleston production values.