Disney+ exits BBC Doctor Who partnership
The BBC has confirmed that Disney+ is not partnering on the next season of Doctor Who.
Disney+ has pulled out of Doctor Who after its two-season partnership with the BBC.
In October 2022, the streamer struck a deal with the corporation to become the global home for the show outside the UK and Ireland, with the BBC remaining its exclusive home in the UK.
With Disney+ exiting the TARDIS on the next season of the sci-fi show, the corporation remains fully committed to the programme.
The BBC has announced a Christmas 2026 special, with plans for the next series being confirmed in due course.
Lindsay Salt, Director of Drama, BBC, said: "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."
Doctor Who spin-off The War Between the Land and the Sea is heading to BBC iPlayer and BBC One in the UK, and Disney+ elsewhere later this year.
The synopsis reads: "When a fearsome and ancient species emerges from the ocean, dramatically revealing themselves to humanity, an international crisis is triggered.
"With the entire population at risk, UNIT step into action as the land and sea wage war."
The War Between the Land and the Sea stars the likes of Russell Tovey, 43, as Barclay and Gugu Mbatha-Raw. 42, as Salt.
Before the BBC's announcement that Disney+ is not partnering on the next season of Doctor Who, the programme's showrunner, Russell T Davies, 62, refused to be drawn on whether another streaming service could come in to fund it.
Asked if another streamer could pump money into Doctor Who if Disney were to exit the TARDIS, he exclusively replied to BANG Showbiz at the 2025 Virgin Atlantic Attitude Awards, powered by Jaguar: "We're not going there."
