Entertainment
Netflix Officially Addresses the Future of ‘Doctor Who’
It has been over a year since the Season 15 finale of Doctor Who aired, and since then, more and more questions have surrounded the sci-fi hit’s future after its partnership with Disney+ ended. While the BBC remains committed to continuing the series, Disney+ previously announced that it would not partner with the broadcaster moving forward, and the previously announced 2026 Christmas special has since been cancelled. As the BBC prepares for the show’s next era, Doctor Who is being put out to competitive tender, opening the door for a new production company to take over the series.
Questions about Doctor Who‘s future have also continued to arise following Ncuti Gatwa‘s exit. The Sex Education actor left after two seasons for a number of reasons, including the show’s physical demands. The finale ends with the Fifteenth Doctor regenerating into a mysterious figure played by Billie Piper, who previously portrayed Rose Tyler. However, it has yet to be confirmed whether Piper will play the Doctor when the show returns, and Piper has only given cryptic answers about her new role in the series. Unlike Gatwa and Jodie Whittaker, Piper does not have “The Doctor” attached to her name in the episode’s credits, and the BBC has not officially announced her as the next Doctor.
One company that could take over Doctor Who is Netflix, as the streaming giant has shown its capability to produce large-scale sci-fi shows like Stranger Things. However, the streamer seems to have no plans to take over production, according to Netflix UK’s VP of Content Anne Mensah. Radio Times reports that during her appearance at the Edinburgh TV Festival 2026 Spotlight panel, Mensah was asked whether Netflix was interested in the BBC’s competitive tender for Doctor Who, and she said she thinks the show belongs to the BBC, despite having a deep love for the show and showing excitement about the idea of working with showrunner Russell T Davies. She said:
“I love Doctor Who. Anything that stays brilliant this long will have many, many lives. I was obsessed with Doctor Who. Okay, so in complete truth, like Russell T is like my person most missed in my life. I love Russell’s work. So, yeah, the better question would have been, but would I love to work with Russell T Davies? Yes, I would love to work with Russell T Davies because he’s a freaking genius. I think Doctor Who belongs on the BBC, and I think all of its iterations. I was there when Jane Tranter [former Controller of Drama Commissioning at the BBC and Bad Wolf co-founder] relaunched it. It’s a really special show, but it belongs on the BBC. We’ve got Supacell!”
What Is ‘Doctor Who’ About?
Doctor Who is a science fiction show that launched on the BBC in 1963 and follows an alien Time Lord named The Doctor. In the first broadcast, this alien’s travel companions were his granddaughter and two of her teachers, as they traveled across time and space to engage in different adventures. As the show went on, new actors took on the role of The Doctor and his companions, with the most recent being Gatwa playing the Fifteenth Doctor and Varada Sethu as the companion, Belinda Chandra. In addition to the main show, Doctor Who has released a handful of spin-offs that told stories of other characters, with the most recent being The War Between Land and Sea, which follows UNIT, a fictional military organization allied with The Doctor, who discovers the existence of Sea Devils on Earth.
Doctor Who is available to stream on Disney+ and Prime Video. Follow Collider for more updates on the franchise’s future.
- Release Date
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2024 – 2025-00-00
- Network
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BBC One
- Directors
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Alex Pillai, Peter Hoar, Ben Chessell, Julie Anne Robinson, Jamie Donoughue, Amanda Brotchie, Dylan Holmes Williams
- Writers
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Steven Moffat, Pete McTighe, Kate Herron, Inua Ellams, Juno Dawson
- Franchise(s)
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Doctor Who / Whoniverse
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