Peter Capaldi on Doctor Who's future
The BBC scrapped the 2026 Doctor Who Christmas special and put the series out for competitive tender, following the exits of showrunner Russell T. Davies and producer Bad Wolf.
Doctor Who's Peter Capaldi insists the show will return after the BBC scrapped this year's Christmas special and put the series out for competitive tender.
The 68-year-old actor - who played the Twelfth Doctor from 2014 until 2017 under 64-year-old showrunner Steven Moffat - said the sci-fi series "will be the same but different" when a new boss and producer replace Russell T Davies, 63, and Bad Wolf.
Peter added to DigitalSpy.com: "Doctor Who has been great to Russell, and it has been great to everybody who's worked any of it, and it will continue to be great. It's not going anywhere.
"Maybe it will disappear for a while in time and space, that's what the Doctor does."
The festive special would have come after the Fifteenth Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) regenerated into the Ninth and Tenth Doctors' (Christopher Eccleston and David Tennant's) sidekick, Rose Tyler (Billie Piper), at the end of season 15, episode 8's The Reality War.
In Russell's exit statement, posted to Instagram on June 10, he told Doctor Who fans that he "never wrote" a script for the cancelled Christmas special, and that "no actor was ever approached to play the next Doctor".
DigitalSpy.com asked Peter if he would make a shock comeback as Billie, 43, did, and he teased: "You can never say never.
"You never know what happens in the future, anything can happen in the future, [Capaldi's Doctor] can do that, he can't do it. You just never know in the universe, and if he's going to do that, he can do that."
Russell - who, in December 2025, told BBC Newsbeat that plot details for the planned Christmas special had been shared with the corporation's bosses, and left them "with jaws agape, loving it" - is "excited as anyone to see what comes next" for the show.
He concluded his June 10 Instagram statement: "Will they keep the theme tune? Will they lose the blue box? Will they bring back the Drahvin?! It’s all up for grabs, which is so Doctor Who, exciting, unpredictable, and new!
"Here comes the future, vworp vworp. @bbcdoctorwho. (sic)"
Steven Moffat is saddened that the BBC canned the Christmas special, but insists Doctor Who will return - as early as 2028, some reports suggest.
He said at the Utopia fan convention over the weekend: "Doctor Who has not been cancelled. Yes, Christmas has been cancelled. Well, to be clear, not all of Christmas, the day will still take place, even if Doctor Who's not on it.
"Quite honestly, I'm not altogether sure why they bother doing that... and that's a black mark.
"I don't like the fact there's not gonna be a Christmas special. There should always be a Christmas special. There's not going to be that, but the show will return. Very, very definitely."
Steven added: "So, out to tender is not out to grass. Out to tender means actively seeking a future for Doctor Who."
In a statement on June 10, the BBC said putting Doctor Who out to competitive tender is to ensure the show's future.
A spokesperson said: "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 BBC understands fans will be "disappointed" that there will be no festive episode for 2026, eight months after its announcement.
Its statement continued: "After careful consideration, the BBC, Russell T Davies and Bad Wolf have collectively decided not to go ahead with the previously announced Doctor Who Christmas episode.
"This decision was not taken lightly, and we know it will be disappointing for fans, but in order to set the show up for future series, it was decided that rather than bridge the gap with a one off special, we are choosing to push forward to invest in the long-term future of the show which ensures that when the TARDIS lands once more, it does so in all its glory."
The Doctor Who animation series for CBeebies is currently in production.
The 2026 Christmas special would have marked the first Doctor Who episode since Disney+ pulled out of the series 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.
