The BBC’s new chief content officer has confirmed that Doctor Who has a future at the corporation, whether the series is still supported by Disney or not.

At the Edinburgh TV Festival, Lindsay Salt, the BBC’s director of drama, has confirmed they’re “committed” to Doctor Who, while chief content officer, Kate Phillips, explained:

“Rest assured, Doctor Who is going nowhere… Going forward, with or without Disney, Doctor Who will still be on the BBC. The TARDIS is going nowhere.”

This comes after a lot of uncertainty, where even the showrunner, Russell T Davies, admitted he had no idea over its future.

Things have been up in the air since the last season of the show aired, which showed Ncuti Gatwa’s Fifteenth Doctor regenerate into a new possible incarnation played by Billie Piper. Since then, all we’ve heard is that the production team is waiting to hear if Disney+, the current worldwide streaming platform co-funding the show, would recommission the programme.

It does mean we’re likely going to get Piper return to Doctor Who, though as far as we know, it won’t be an ongoing thing… which means another Doctor will need to be cast soon. As is, it’s unlikely we’ll see more Who within at least three years.

They’ve also confirmed that spin-off show, The War Between the Land and the Sea, will air and stream next year (2026), presumably to help fill that long gap between seasons of Doctor Who.

However it’s all being presented right now, things aren’t quite right behind the scenes, so we’ll all have to wait and see.