The BBC has announced that Doctor Who does have a future, and will return next year. But things are very much up in the air.

So what do we know for sure? And what don’t we know? Let’s run through a few things…

What we know:

• Doctor Who will come back, with a Christmas special in 2026.
• There will be no Christmas special this year.
• The special will be written by showrunner, Russell T Davies.
• It will air on the BBC.
• It will be co-produced by Bad Wolf.
• An animated Doctor Who for Cbeebies will debut, with pre-production work beginning in January 2026.
• Doctor Who spin-off, The War Between the Land and the Sea, will air on the BBC before the end of the year.
• Doctor Who does at least have a future!

What we don’t know:

• Whether this will be the last episode by Davies. It’s hinted, and indeed rumoured, that the upcoming episode will be his last.
• If a new series will be coming in 2027 (though it’s likely).
• Who will be the new head writer, if Russell does leave.
• If Bad Wolf will continue to co-produce beyond the next episode.
• Whether Billie Piper will be the Sixteenth Doctor. It feels like an idea that most of fandom is resistant to and perhaps Davies has been asked back in order to clear up the cliffhanger to The Reality War. Personally, I’m hoping they manage to get Ncuti Gatwa (the Fifteenth Doctor) back for at least a few scenes, and Piper is revealed to be a manipulation by the Toymaker or similar, before she reverts back to Gatwa and he regenerates into someone else.
• Who the next Doctor actually is.
• When the episode will air. The smart money is nonetheless on Christmas Day 2026.
• What really caused Disney+ to pull out, and all the behind-the-scenes machinations that resulted in this messy time in the franchise’s history. There’s been a change in the schedule of both this announcement and the broadcast of The War Between the Land and the Sea, so something has definitely gone wrong.
• If any new spin-offs are likely.
• If a new streaming partner will step into the fold.
• Which services will mean Doctor Who can be watched in foreign territories after Disney+ drops it.
• If David Tennant will be seen again, perhaps as the Fourteenth Doctor.
• Whether a new companion called Petrol will be introduced…

Okay, “what we don’t know” there is the tip of an iceberg. We don’t really know what the future of Doctor Who holds in store. But the Doctor Who Companion will be here to tide us over and be… well, your companion in time and space!