There’ll be no Christmas enjoyable for the Physician this yr.
On Wednesday, The Hollywood Reporter obtained an replace on the way forward for the BBC collection, which mentioned that the British public broadcaster has scrapped the beforehand promised Christmas particular and can put Doctor Who out to “competitive tender.”
It’s a proper, open course of through which the BBC invitations impartial manufacturing corporations to pitch for manufacturing rights on an present collection, and so they then choose a favourite. Mainly, legendary showrunner Russell T. Davies and manufacturing firm Dangerous Wolf are exiting the present.
“Doctor Who remains an important part of the BBC,” mentioned the assertion, “and this tender underpins the BBC’s continued commitment to Doctor Who, ensuring audiences will enjoy the show for years to come.”
Consistent with that announcement, the BBC, Davies and manufacturing firm Dangerous Wolf defined that they collectively determined “not to go ahead with the previously announced Doctor Who Christmas episode.”
They mentioned: “This 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.”
The brand new Physician Who animation collection for CBeebies is at present in manufacturing, and particulars of the tender can be introduced sooner or later, they added.
The BBC retains all IP in Physician Who, nevertheless it’s been one thing of a tumultuous interval for the Time Lord and his companions. On the finish of the newest collection, which recorded the franchise’s lowest-ever viewership numbers, Intercourse Training star Ncuti Gatwa regenerated into none apart from Billie Piper, who performed the Physician’s former good friend (and love curiosity) Rose Tyler throughout the Christopher Eccleston-David Tennant period.
The now-scrapped 2026 Christmas particular was introduced final yr when Disney+ additionally confirmed they’d be exiting its Physician Who partnership with the BBC. The streamer had turn into the worldwide residence of the sci-fi collection outdoors the U.K. and Eire, and although the BBC’s director of drama Lindsay Salt assured followers “the Doctor is not going anywhere,” the information nonetheless begged the query: What is going to turn into of Physician Who?
