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It’s a strange thing to say for a TV show that survived over a decade and a half of hiatus, but there might not have been a weirder time to be a Doctor Who fan than right now.
At least when Doctor Who was first canceled in 1989, there was something at least largely definitive about it—yes, the Seventh Doctor and Ace wandered off to go have adventures we wouldn’t see on-screen, but in terms of the future of the show, the classic era of Doctor Who was dead. Fast forward almost 40 years; the show is in a very different limbo.
It’s been almost six months since the BBC announced that its co-production deal with Disney on the show had come to a dramatic end, which confirmed at the same time that Doctor Who would return—specifically for a 2026 Christmas special penned by Russell T. Davies—and that the corporation “will be announcing plans for the next series in due course, which will ensure the TARDIS remains at the heart of the BBC.”
Whatever the due course is, it’s either been incredibly secretive from prying industry eyes and the general public or very slow going, because we’ve heard practically nothing since about Doctor Who‘s future: either the one coming in eight months’ time or whatever’s going to happen after that.
What has occasionally come out has been vague at best, with no one willing to even confirm who will actually appear in the special—although there have been rumors suggesting that David Tennant could make another comeback to co-star alongside Billie Piper in her equally mysterious role. Doctor Who‘s festive specials have typically entered production as some of the first things shot in a seasonal block, with past specials commonly wrapping filming as early in the year as May or as late as October (remember, of course, that Doctor Who is a show that requires a lot of post-production work on top of that). But with the show’s uncertain future beyond Christmas this year, there’s likely much more flexibility in the production of what will likely be a one-off episode, rather than the kickstarting of a new seasonal production cycle for the show.
But it’s not just the uncertainty of filming that feels weird—it’s that you can’t really talk about any kind of on-screen Doctor Who without uncertainty at the moment. In the U.S., Doctor Who‘s streaming home outside of Disney’s co-produced episodes has been in limbo since the series’ deal with HBO Max expired last year. Even in terms of Disney material, the final piece of that partnership—the (rather dire) spinoff miniseries The War Between the Land and the Sea—has yet to release on Disney+, despite it having already broadcast in the UK and being targeted for an “early 2026” launch on the streamer.
Eight months is still a very long time for things to happen for Doctor Who, of course. Whatever happens, we’re going to end this year with at least one episode of the show unless something goes disastrously wrong. But the fact that the show still remains shrouded in this cloak of uncertainty—and it’s definitely that rather than the usual mystery we’ve come to expect from the past 20 years of the show’s return—all this time later can’t help but feel off. There’s an end in sight, but has the moment even been prepared for?
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
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