The current status of Doctor Who is far more promising than it recently seemed, with there now being confirmation that the death of the BBC's deal with Disney won't mean the show will go on hiatus, as was originally rumored. Instead, the BBC has announced its plan to continue making Doctor Who alone, just as it did before the 60th anniversary specials and Ncuti Gatwa's reign as the Fifteenth Doctor.
Although only the 2026 Christmas special has been announced in any detail, Doctor Who will go on to make another run of episodes shortly after. By the time next season airs, it's possible that around two years will have passed since Gatwa's unexpected exit. So, Whovians will be especially anxious for more regular adventures from the Time Lord in the blue box. Regardless, it's at least comforting to know that Doctor Who will continue without the need for an overly lengthy production delay.
While there were several notable differences during Doctor Who's Disney era when compared with the seasons that preceded it, there was one big changes that many viewers were disappointed by. It wasn't a complaint about the scripts, although there were plenty of those. Instead, one of the biggest concerns was related to a frustrating production decision that the BBC could soon rectify.
Doctor Who's return to complete BBC control opens the door for longer seasons again
During Doctor Who's classic era, the length of seasons wasn't quite as regulated as they've generally been since the reboot. However, since Russell T Davies brought the show back in 2005, Doctor Who seasons have generally been between 10 and 14 episodes long, with some outliers here and there. Before the Disney era, the only exception was Jodie Whittaker's final season, Flux, which was just six installments long, but combined to tell one long story.
The 60th anniversary brought back David Tennant as the Fourteenth Doctor for three episodes, making the start of the BBC/Disney collaboration especially rewarding. Unfortunately, the two seasons that saw the two studios' team-up continue didn't receive the same treatment. Rather than being longer than most BBC seasons of Doctor Who, Ncuti Gatwa led just two, eight-episode runs as the Fifteenth Doctor. And, of course, two Christmas specials.
While Doctor Who looked aesthetically superior as a benefit of the Disney money, the increased budget was probably to blame for the reduced episode count as well. Instead of around 13 episodes with modest budgets, the seasons were eight episodes that had much higher budgets. In other words, there was more money to go around, but it was spread less evenly. Now that the show is returning to how it's traditionally been made, I see no real reason why the longer seasons on smaller budgets can't return.
Shorter seasons were a big part of what hurt Doctor Who's Disney era
Davies' second spell in charge of Doctor Who hasn't been bad so far, but it hasn't been great either. One of the reasons for this is the need to fit what should be an epic, layered storyline into just eight episodes at a time. During Davies' initial period as showrunner, he had much longer to let a narrative gradually unfold, and also sufficient room to fit in the occasional standalone adventure.
Davies, Steven Moffat, and Chris Chibnall all had more episodes to play with at once before the Disney deal, which seems bizarre given how much money was pumped into the show for the installments that aired between 2023 and 2025. Everything in the last couple of years has felt a little rushed, and the great one-off adventures that would once act as a breather before the more story-heavy episodes would resume have had to prop the show up more than they've been expected or able to in the past. So, a longer season for the next installment of Doctor Who is a must if the show is going to rise to prominence once more.
Doctor Who returns with a Christmas special on December 25, 2026.