Scrapped 'Doctor Who' Christmas Special Finally Addressed by Showrunner

3 days ago 11

russell t davies on the BBC red carpet for 'Doctor Who'

Published Oct 6, 2026, 12:42 PM EDT

Erielle Sudario is a Collider News and Feature Author from Australia and has worked in the journalism industry since 2018. She has a passion for entertainment and pop culture news and has interviewed YouTubers, voice actors, film directors, and musicians throughout her career. When she's not writing, you can see Erielle building keyboards, reading a good book, playing video games, and creating content on social media.

Doctor Who was supposed to air one more episode this year in the form of its 2026 Christmas special. While plot details weren't initially revealed, showrunner Russell T Davies said he would begin work on it after the release of the spin-off The War Between the Land and the Sea. However, the end of the Disney+ deal also meant the end of Doctor Who for the time being, including the planned Christmas special, with the series not expected to return to television until a new producer could be found.

Doctor Who Christmas specials usually serve one of several purposes. They can properly introduce a new Doctor, as seen with David Tennant's 10th and 14th incarnations, tell the final chapter of a current incarnation, as seen with Matt Smith's Christmas special, or simply tell a festive story outside the show's usual episodic structure. These episodes typically air on Christmas Day on the BBC. 2026 was supposed to be no different, as another Christmas special was planned. But after Ncuti Gatwa left the show early and the season finale raised questions about who the new lead would be, many wondered how the special would address these unexpected changes.

Following Doctor Who's cancellation, many wondered why the special was scrapped and assumed it was tied to the short-lived Disney+ deal. Recently, The Guardian released an excerpt from Davies' upcoming memoir, The Queerest of Folk: A Life in Television, in which he revealed why the special was scrapped. It turns out that it had nothing to do with Disney+ but rather with the BBC. This is what he wrote:

"I went to the BBC on 6 May 2026 and said: 'I don’t think we should be making this.' And I didn’t say this next part out loud, but I thought with all my heart: the BBC is in financial trouble; it’s laying off thousands of jobs in the newsroom, so should it really spend millions, with no co-production money, on a Doctor Who one-off that will soon be eclipsed by a whole new era? 'Put your energy and imagination into the future,' I said. And to be honest, I think they’d been waiting for me to say it. We’d all been too polite with each other, them not wanting to let me down, me not wanting to let them down. But this new plan sets the show free. The future can be planned by a brand-new team. Clean and bold and bright."

What Is 'Doctor Who' About?

Doctor Who is a sci-fi show that first aired in 1963 and follows the Doctor, an alien known as a Time Lord who can travel across time and space using a time machine called the TARDIS. Traveling alongside the Doctor are various companions who join them on their adventures across time and space. One reason the show has continued for so many years is an in-universe process called "regeneration," in which a Time Lord receives a new body when they are severely injured or about to die. This has allowed the show to recast its main character over the years, and as of now, there have been 15 numbered incarnations of the Doctor, with Gatwa playing the 15th Doctor.

The Doctor Who TV series has entered a competitive tender process to find a new producer to continue the show. While the BBC continues to look for its next showrunner, Doctor Who has continued its time-traveling adventures through audio stories produced by Big Finish Productions, featuring previous Doctor Who stars like Christopher Eccleston and Jodie Whittaker reprising their roles alongside their former companions.

Doctor Who is available to stream on Disney+. Follow Collider for more updates.