Doctor Who returning with 2026 Christmas Special at BBC One

After months and months of rumors, we now have a small sense of what is ahead for Doctor Who — though there are still questions.

Take, for starters, the fact that the Disney+ streaming deal is more or less done. That was confirmed today by BBC One, who also did indicate that there is a 2026 Christmas Special coming, and that it will be penned by none other than current showrunner Russell T. Davies.

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In a statement per the show’s official website, here is what Lindsay Salt, Director of Drama at the BBC, had to say:

“We’d like to thank Disney+ for being terrific global partners and collaborators over the past two seasons, and for the upcoming The War Between the Land and the Sea. The BBC remains fully committed to Doctor Who, which continues to be one of our most loved dramas, and we are delighted that Russell T Davies has agreed to write us another spectacular Christmas special for 2026. We can assure fans, the Doctor is not going anywhere, and we will be announcing plans for the next series in due course which will ensure the TARDIS remains at the heart of the BBC.”

If we had to issue some sort of prediction here at present, it is that this is going to be the episode that explains what we saw from Billie Piper at the end of season 15. Is she really the next Doctor? That makes at least an element of sense but, at the same time, we do know that this show loves its trickery! We also tend to think that by the end of the special, we will have a better sense of a plan for season 16 and beyond.

Related – Be sure to get some other updates when it comes to the future of Doctor Who

What do you think about Doctor Who returning for a 2026 Christmas Special?

Do you think that Piper is going to be the next Doctor, or this is some grand misdirect? Be sure to share below and once you do, keep coming back for some other updates.