Producer, Jane Tranter, has confirmed that Disney doesn’t have to make a decision about the future of Doctor Who until after the spin-off, The War Between the Land and the Sea, has aired — and hints that the streaming service, Disney+, is unlikely to commission more.

Nonetheless, she confirms that Doctor Who will continue, “one way or another.”

Tranter says that all 26 episodes commissioned by Disney, i.e. Ncuti Gatwa’s two seasons as the Fifteenth Doctor plus the five episodes of The War Between the Land and the Sea, have to air; “then, and only then, does Disney+ have to make a decision about whether or not they want to do more.”

Tranter further cautioned:

“I imagine, at a time when Disney are having huge cuts themselves, and there have been slashes in programme budgets, they’re looking to take their time to balance everything out and decide what they want to do.

“At its heart, it’s a BBC show and it will keep going, one way or another.”

So that’s both good news and bad, really. Yes, Doctor Who will return at some point — but the pertinent thing to note is, at some point. The War Between the Land and the Sea is unlikely to air and stream until next year, so we’ve a while to wait for any decision to be made and even longer until it’s announced.

Also, it’s a bit troubling that this was in the Disney-BBC contract but that fans were nevertheless assured of new Who every year when that was always a blatant life.

Such is life, I suppose.