Russell T Davies Teases Doctor Who Announcement Amid 'Scrapped' Special Reports

Russell T Davies has said that Doctor Who fans should have an update about what’s next for the show in the coming weeks.

After a bumpy year or two for the long-running sci-fi series, the BBC announced in October 2025 that Russell would be penning a new Christmas special, due to air over the festive period in 2026.

However, last week, The Sun reported that this one-off special could be “scrapped”, as bosses are reportedly struggling to find an actor to take over from Ncuti Gatwa as the next Time Lord.

The BBC declined to comment at the time when contacted by HuffPost UK.

With Russell currently on the promo trail for his new series Tip Toe, he was put on the spot about Doctor Who’s future during an interview on Radio 2.

At the end of the chat, presenter Gary Davies claimed: “Now, I can’t have you here and not ask about Doctor Who.”

“Oh, Gary, you’ve sprung that on me!” the It’s A Sin writer responded, before assuring Whovians: “You will get an announcement. There’s a press release lumbering through the BBC – which, as you know, is like the Jurassic period. And 57 people have to sign off on every single word.

“I promise you, in about a week or two weeks, there’ll be some sort of press release – and yet, I can hear the gears slowing down, even as I say that.”

Russell was originally Doctor Who’s showrunner between 2005 and 2010, before returning in the 2020s to coincide with its 60th anniversary specials.

During a recent interview with HuffPost UK to promote Tip Toe, Russell claimed that he’d been the subject of online “weaponisation” since “the moment I put a trans character into Doctor Who”, introducing Rose, played by Heartstopper’s Yasmin Finney, in 2023.

He previously hit back at the suggestion that his second tenure as Doctor Who showrunner had been too “woke”, stating: “I don’t have a second to bear [it]. Because what you might call diversity, I just call an open door.”

The last season of Doctor Who ended on a cliffhanger when Ncuti’s Fifteenth Doctor regenerated into a seemingly new character, portrayed by former cast member Billie Piper.