BBC teases potential new streaming partner for Doctor Who as show's future affirmed as "treasured brand"

While Doctor Who is set to return this year for a Christmas special, its future beyond that is still up in the air following the end of the deal with Disney - and, now, the director of BBC Drama has teased a potential new partner.

The BBC announced last year that its deal with Disney had come to an end after partnering on 26 episodes of Doctor Who, which amounted to Ncuti Gatwa's two seasons and spin-off The War Between the Land and the Sea.

While the BBC has continually confirmed its commitment to Doctor Who following the end of that deal, there are questions about how the show will now be funded.

So, now that the BBC is set to partner with HBO on Richard Gadd and Michaela Coel's new shows, Lindsay Salt, director of BBC drama, was asked whether that partnership could potentially extend to Doctor Who.

She didn't rule it out, telling Deadline: "We’ll wait and see how we figure it out. HBO have been great partners creatively. There’s a lot of stuff that is changing out there."

Salt also re-emphasised the broadcaster's commitment to Doctor Who, adding: "There are different ways of setting up a show. We just need to make sure we do it in the right way and make sure we take the right time to do it. Ultimately it’s one of the BBC’s most treasured brands, so it’s not going anywhere."

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As for how the sci-fi could continue with a significantly lower budget? She told the outlet: "I managed to walk into this job when the co-pro market imploded and I’ve learned a lot about the tenacity of producers and writers to make things at all budget levels. Things are getting funded in so many different ways now."

Story-wise, this year's Christmas special has a lot to tackle following Gatwa's exit from the show, with the Time Lord regenerating into returning star Billie Piper at the end of the latest episode, The Reality War.

Piper has, notably, not been confirmed as the new Doctor - so it seems there's something more going on with her return.

While not much is known about the plot of the festive special, longtime Doctor Who composer Murray Gold recently revealed that multiple scripts are being penned, saying on the Half the Picture podcast: "I know that Russell’s written, I think, multiple versions depending on certain outcomes. So that’s all I really know, and I’m not sure [that] I’m even supposed to know that."

Doctor Who will return to BBC One and BBC iPlayer this Christmas.

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