Disney Might Pull the Plug on Doctor Who — Producer Drops Major Warning

If you were hoping for a quick yes-or-no on the next season of Doctor Who, go make a cup of tea. Disney does not have to decide anything for a while, and the clock does not even start until the spin-off lands.

Where things actually stand

• Producer Jane Tranter says Disney initially ordered 26 episodes in total for this era of Who. That count includes the upcoming spin-off, The War Between the Land and the Sea.
• Disney+ is only on the hook to make a renewal decision after all 26 have aired. Translation: the formal call can come months from now, not imminently.
• The spin-off does not have a release date yet, but the BBCs Chief of Content, Kate Phillips, recently pegged it for 2026. So if you are doing the math, the decision window could realistically slide into or after that.
• Important nuance: Disney could choose to decide earlier. They just are not required to.

Then, and only then, does Disney+ have to make a decision about whether or not they want to do more.

That is Tranter, speaking at a Royal Television Society event. She also pointed out the obvious elephant in the room: Disney is cutting costs and trimming programming budgets across the board, so they are likely taking their time to re-balance before committing to anything long-term.

The BBC is not sweating it

Tranter was clear that the show is fundamentally a BBC series and will keep going one way or another. And Kate Phillips backed that up at the Edinburgh TV Festival, making the BBCs position very straightforward:

Any Whovians out there, rest assured - Doctor Who is going nowhere... with or without Disney, Doctor Who will still be on the BBC.

So even if Disney takes its sweet time, or eventually steps back, the BBC says the TARDIS doors stay open.

Quick refresher on the current era

The last season wrapped with The Reality War and a genuinely wild twist: Ncuti Gatwas Fifteenth Doctor regenerated into Billie Piper. Yes, that Billie Piper. If that made your brain do a double-take, you are not alone. It is very inside baseball and very Who.

The bottom line

Do not expect a Disney renewal announcement tomorrow. The decision is tied to the end of a 26-episode block that includes a spin-off slated for 2026. But the BBC says the show will return either way, which is the part that really matters if you just want more Doctor Who. In the meantime, episodes are streaming on BBC iPlayer.