The BBC has unveiled our very first look at Doctor Who: TARDIS Crew, the new animated series aimed at preschool children set for broadcast in late 2027 and early 2028.

Expected to welcome new generation of fans, these animated adventures will go out on CBeebies, and follow a young Doctor and friends Hannah, Beastie, and Toast-IE as they travel through time and space in the TARDIS.

(We suspect that Doctor Who: TARDIS Crew is best viewed without any notion of canon.)

The serial will see the adventurers “encounter incredible creatures, discover amazing new worlds.” They’re also going to meet the Daleks in a series of scripts promising humour and imagination, designed to encourage curiosity, kindness, and courage.

Show Format

Younger viewers will travel time and space in 52 eleven-minute episodes, with Kate Morton, Senior Head of Commissioning for CBeebies, telling fans: “The TARDIS is ready for its youngest crew yet. Packed with imagination, humour and adventure, Doctor Who: TARDIS Crew will inspire children to be curious, courageous and kind as they explore incredible worlds across time and space. It’s everything families love about Doctor Who, wonder, excitement and endless possibility, reimagined for CBeebies’ youngest explorers.”

Doctor Who: TARDIS Crew is produced by Blue Zoo Animation Studio, with Dominic Minns (Mojo Swoptops and Supertato) serving as Series Director. While it should air late 2027/early 2028, we’re hoping for some clips sooner than that…

First Impressions… Pass?

As first looks go, this is pretty muted — I’d have loved to see a few clips.

Ultimately, Doctor Who: TARDIS Crew a preschool kids show, the type that is likely to be repeated for years and years and go out to TV stations and streaming platforms around the world. It is essentially an advert for the main show, and in this regard, the BBC should be lauded in keeping things going in this way.

But, by the time it goes out on CBeebies and BBC iPlayer, a new series of Doctor Who should be in production. This show appears to be giving us a whole new incarnation of the Doctor — something that used to be an event, whether on TV, in print, or on audio. These days (perhaps thanks to Chris Chibnall) the notion of a new Doctor is pretty “meh.”

That could be a problem for the main show moving forward.