Despite it all, I think that “Doctor Who” will be just fine. 

Recently, fans of the long-running show got some bad news. The 2026 Christmas Special is cancelled. In addition, the series co-producer, Bad Wolf, is exiting the program, and showrunner Russel T. Davies is out.

But despite the defeatism on social media and the comparisons to the show’s “rest” in 1989, I do not think we are headed for an overly long time without the show. I could be wrong, of course, but let’s look at the show’s history and current facts. There are similarities, but also reasons to not expect history to repeat exactly as it happened before.

The Last Time “Doctor Who” Was Put on “Pause”

Public and Private Sentiment at the BBC in 1989

For those who don’t know, “Doctor Who” entered a “rest period” in 1989 after the final serial of season 26, “Survival.” Episode four of the serial aired on December 6, 1989. At the time, the BBC made vague statements on the show’s future- at least publicly. “Doctor Who Magazine” (“DWM”) chronicled these statements in the months following the “Survival” finale.

In issue #156, DWM quoted then-BBC Head of Drama Series Peter Cregeen at a press conference in October 1989. “‘Doctor Who’ has lasted twenty-six years and I can’t see any reason why it shouldn’t continue.” Cregeen also provided a statement to the “Radio Times” in their 25th Nov-1st December issue that “…there are no plans to axe ‘Doctor Who’…” But behind the scenes, Cregeen was apparently less optimistic.

A DVD release of “Survival” included “Doctor Who: Endgame.” This documentary feature explored the hows and whys behind the show’s in-all-but-name cancellation. Among the other interviewees was Peter Cregeen, who provided a more honest statement years later.

“When I joined the BBC as Head of Series, there were a number of programs there that had been running for a long time… There are only so many hours on British television for drama, and I decided that we needed to look seriously at these programs and see whether or not we needed to open up the schedules again. And ‘Doctor Who’ was one of those programs.”

Other interviewees of the documentary were less convinced of that being the sole reason, of course. Ben Aaronovitch, a writer for the series, reasoned that those in charge of the BBC at the time were not fans of science fiction. He also said that they saw it as an embarrassment. Colin Brake, also a series writer, said among the would-be producers at the BBC “Doctor Who” was seen as a “career-killer.” “It wasn’t seen as something the department was proud of. I think if they could’ve farmed it off to the children’s department, they’d all be very happy,” Brake said in the “Endgame” documentary.

The BBC Drags Their Feet

The rumblings of “Doctor Who’s” uncertain future are well chronicled in “Doctor Who Magazine.” In issue #155, published November 9, 1989, they cited inside sources that said it was likely the show would have no new episodes in 1990. An announcement was expected in November regarding the future of the show, but a concrete answer never came that month.

DWM #158 pointed to a final decision on the show happening in April. Issue 163 said “a decision may now not be made until as late as the Autumn” (of 1990), while #164 noted that an announcement had been expected in July 1990. Even later, the 26th December 1990 issue reported “It’s now confirmed that a final decision on the Doctor’s fate will be made in 1991.”

The BBC’s inability to commit to any firm future of the show was repeatedly brought up in the magazine. Rumors were reported, but nothing ever came of them. Issue #185, published in March 1992, noted the continued uncertainty even in an unrelated article about new home media releases. In a headline for that article, they still noted a lack of new episode news.

Doctor Who Will Be Fine, Despite the History

Despite – or perhaps because of – this history, I still think that “Doctor Who” will be fine. Yes, on the surface, a lot of that seems to be echoed in our current situation. The BBC’s stated they want the show to continue like they did in 1989, but there are key differences to consider. These include how the BBC finds production companies for their shows these days and current support for other “Who” projects.

How It Used to Be

One important change that DWM reported on amongst the uncertain future of the show in 1989 was how BBC shows were to be produced. In issue #156, the magazine briefly discussed how TV stations in Britain had to have at least 25% of their programming produced by independent companies by the early 90s. This was part of the Broadcasting Act of 1990.

This switch in how TV programs were to be produced coincided with “Doctor Who’s” uncertain future nearly perfectly. With those at the BBC not huge fans of the show but perhaps knowing they’d draw the ire of the fans if it was dropped entirely, DWM proposed the idea that it might become part of that 25%.

In later issues, DWM points out possible contenders for this independent production of the show. “Doctor Who” writers Terry Nation and Gerry Davis expressed their interest in taking over the show. It was even reported that interested parties in co-funding the series were Hanna Barbera, Fox, Columbia, and (guess who?) Disney. But even as this speculation continued, the magazine also reported the possibility that the show would stay in-house.

The process the BBC used to allow companies to pitch at this time does not seem to be very clear. Additionally, the BBC never made any clear indication as to which path the show would take- independent or in-house. This only added to the confusion and, perhaps, could’ve been used to cover up and shift blame for any long delay in a decision on “Doctor Who”.

These days, though, there is a solid framework that allows independent production companies to bid on contracts for the BBC. The process has changed over the years, but let’s look at how it works in the present day.

How the BBC Produces Shows Now

In 2014, the BBC launched a strategy called “Compete or Compare.” This is intended to “commission the best programmes for audiences, regardless of who makes them.” Before this strategy was put in place, a certain percentage of productions were guaranteed to be done in-house via BBC Studios. Now, apart from the news, all other BBC productions follow a “competitive tender” process.

This is a phrase that those who have read the BBC’s most recent statement about “Doctor Who” will recognize. 

“As part of securing the next phase of the show for future generations, and in line with the BBC’s Charter and Agreement requirements, the BBC will put Doctor Who out to competitive tender this year. Doctor Who remains an important part of the BBC and this tender underpins the BBC’s continued commitment to Doctor Who ensuring audiences will enjoy the show for years to come.”

The “Radio Times” has an excellent breakdown of this process that I would recommend any anxious fans of the show read. But here is the basic idea:

A company that would like to be considered to make “Doctor Who” for the BBC fills out a form to make sure they pass their basic minimum requirements. Companies that go on to the next round will provide more detailed information about their plans for the show. This would include things like their projected costs and how soon production could start. It’s sort of like a big job interview for the interested companies.

In the “Radio Times” article, Scott Varnham gives a rough timeline of when we could expect to hear news. The examples given are “Blue Peter” and “Casualty”. Both shows went up for competitive tender and had announcements within 7-8 months. So depending on when this process goes live for “Doctor Who,” we could hear news early next year.

The “Competitive Tender” Process Can Only Be a Good Thing

Of course, if the BBC puts off starting the process for a long time, that would be a concern. But this formalized process that has been used for many shows in recent years, including an upcoming “Doctor Who” spinoff. It has a solid framework and reasonably predictable timeline.

If nothing else, it would just be bad business for the BBC to signal to production companies that this bid is getting ready to go live and then go back on their word. This competitive tender process is how nearly all of their shows get made. Promising a chance and then taking it away could make those independent studios upset and less likely to want to work with the BBC in the future. Interested studios may already be preparing the information they need for when the process goes live.

How This Will Help “Doctor Who

While watching the clips of the “Doctor Who: Endgame” documentary that I was able to find online, I found this quote from Peter Cregeen to be interesting in the context of the competitive tender process.

“The reason ‘Doctor Who’ finished in 1989 was that we had really decided that this wasn’t the program that it had been. And if it was ever going to have any life again in the future, it needed a long rest. Not quite as long a rest as actually turned out to be the case… Had there been somebody around who was absolutely passionate about the program- a producer, a writer- who had got a vision of that program, that would actually bring it into a new sort of life and new world. 

Because every program needs reinventing every so often. It could’ve been an option to actually push that forward at that stage. But I couldn’t see anybody there around, nobody was certainly making themselves evident that they were passionate to be involved with ‘Doctor Who’. Because I think most people at that stage regarded it as a program that had seen better days. And I decided, ‘Let’s just give it a rest.’ A lot of people saw that as a sort of smoke screen, I think, to cancellation. But it really wasn’t that. I thought probably it would come back on the air in three or four years’ time. As it was, it took considerably longer than that.”

While I have definitely found things to love about this most recent era of “Doctor Who,” I’ve had my criticisms, too. And despite the love I have for this show, it is a fact that viewers are down in the UK. It does need something new. It does need a refresh. 

This competitive tender process will help the BBC find the right team to continue and revive the show. They’ll be able to find someone that will “bring it into a new sort of life and new world”. They’re not hiding behind hand-wave promises and kicking a decision down the road indefinitely.

Yes, I might be slightly worried until that competitive tender process is started. But I see no reason to disbelieve the BBC’s stated intentions for the show. Nor do I think they will wait too long to start that process.

Other Reasons To Be Positive

The competitive tender process is not the only reason I see to be positive. There’s other factors to consider, too.

Shortly after “The Reality War” aired in 2025, the BBC announced their intentions to make a brand-new animated kids show for “Doctor Who.” This was also put out to competitive tender. Blue Zoo Animation Studios won the pitch in December 2025. They have an initial order of 52 episodes and went into production this year.

On the surface, that might seem unimportant. But at the time the show was put forward to companies to bid for, the BBC had to know of the growing uncertainty of “Doctor Who.” “Season 2” had just ended and Disney had made no public commitment to continuing their partnership with the show. Conversations were likely happening between the two companies, but nothing was known for certain.

So, for the BBC to move forward with plans for expanding the universe does show faith in the staying power of “Doctor Who.”

And while this one was made during the Disney partnership, I would also like to point towards “Tales of the TARDIS” as a reason to believe the BBC. True, plans for more live-action “Whoniverse” offerings are likely on hold. But with this being a solely Bad Wolf and BBC Studios production with no Disney involvement or funding, it does prove that they are willing and able to make “Who”-related content even without an outside or even bigger co-producer.

“Circuit Breaker” Points Towards BBC Support, Too

More recently, “Doctor Who” started a new multi-platform story. Announced last summer, “Circuit Breaker” is a new adventure for the Fugitive Doctor (Jo Martin). The story just launched on June 25, 2026 and will release new pieces through late September this year.

Told across comics, books, audio, and more, this is no small project. Time and effort has been put in by the BBC to coordinate all of these different platforms and companies telling their parts of the story. Yes, there is money to be made from selling the different parts of the story. But it still shows that the BBC consider “Doctor Who” to be a viable (and money-making!) show.

True, this adventure may not get the reach that the TV episodes do. However, it’s still an important piece to consider when recognizing that the BBC is being truthful about the intentions for “Doctor Who.”

Some More of My Own Thoughts

Outside of anything else, though, “Doctor Who” is loved. Sure, UK viewing figures are down. But the fanbase is passionate. Realistically, I don’t think we’d be seeing so much outcry over the misunderstanding/misreading of the show’s future if people didn’t care what happened to the show. No matter what the overly-critical (and, let’s be honest, often narrow-minded) corners of the fandom want to try and state as fact, people care. People want to see this story continued.

When “Doctor Who” returned in 2005, it was because of a fan. Regardless of what your opinions are on Russell T Davies are, he is who brought the show back from its “rest.” And he is hardly the only person who got into the industry because of the show. It’s very likely that whoever wins the competitive tender process will also be a fan of the show.

I know there are people out there who are going to dismiss me as being unrealistic or bargaining. But I do genuinely believe that “Doctor Who” will return shortly. It will take time, of course. Even if they could speed through the bidding process and somehow have a contract signed with a new production company tomorrow, there’s a lot of other work to be done. Scripts written, actors cast, sets built or scouted, and so on. It may be a year or two, but I don’t think it’ll be much longer than that.

“Doctor Who” will be fine. “Doctor Who” will return, even though it will take time. “Until then, there must be no regrets, no tears, no anxieties. Just go forward in all your beliefs and prove to me that I am not mistaken in mine.” Patience, Whovians.