Doctor Who Officially Reveals The Character's Next Incarnation After Ncuti Gatwa & Billie Piper

Published Oct 6, 2026, 10:30 AM EDT Tom is a Senior Staff Writer at Screen Rant, with expertise covering everything from hilarious sitcoms to jaw-dropping sci-fi epics. Initially he was an Updates writer, though before long he found his way to the TV and movies team. He now spends his days keeping Screen Rant readers informed about the TV shows of yesteryear, whether it's recommending hidden gems that may have been missed by genre fans or deep diving into ways your favorite shows have (or haven't) stood the test of time. Tom is based in the UK and when he's not writing about TV shows, he's watching them. He's also an avid horror fiction writer, gamer, and has a Dungeons and Dragons habit that he tries (and fails) to keep in check. Sign in to your ScreenRant account Few fandoms are as in the dark right now as Whovians. After decades of consistent wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey adventures, Doctor Who is currently on hiatus while the BBC puts the show out to tender following the collapse of the partnership with Disney. The planned 2026 Christmas special has been canceled, and exactly when the TARDIS will return to live-action television remains unknown. To say that it has been a difficult time for Doctor Who fans is, to put it lightly, an understatement. Fortunately, there is a sliver of hope that the BBC isn't done with the Doctor just yet. The live-action future remains completely uncertain after the Fifteenth Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) regenerated into a mysterious new incarnation played by Billie Piper. However, sci-fi's most famous time traveler is now confirmed to be coming back to screens, but this time in animated form. The BBC has unveiled a first look at the upcoming cartoon series Doctor Who: TARDIS Crew, giving the Whoniverse another Doctor while its biggest unanswered regeneration question remains hanging. Doctor Who: TARDIS Crew is an animated preschool series being produced for CBeebies. Viewers will be introduced to a young Doctor and a new group of companions on kid-friendly adventures across time and space. It isn't the live-action comeback that longtime Whovians are waiting for, but it proves that the franchise itself isn't dead. Better still, if TARDIS Crew succeeds in introducing children to the Doctor, Daleks, and TARDIS, it could keep demand for new Doctor Who adventures alive thanks to a fresh generation of fans. Doctor Who Has A Brand-New Doctor The biggest surprise in the first Doctor Who: TARDIS Crew reveal is its version of the Doctor. Rather than building a distant spinoff around completely unrelated characters, the animated series is centered around a youthful version of the iconic Time Lord. Still, all that the BBC has revealed about him is that he’s “the Doctor, a young Time Lord,” leaving plenty unanswered about exactly where this incarnation belongs within the character's enormous personal timeline (via BBC). An obvious possibility is that this is effectively a younger interpretation of the First Doctor, showing the version played by William Hartnell at some point before Doctor Who began in 1963. However, nothing announced so far confirms that theory. Given the Doctor's increasingly complicated regeneration history, TARDIS Crew could conceivably introduce another previously unseen incarnation instead (perhaps one of the Timeless Children). Until the BBC establishes where this young, animated Doctor fits, his precise relationship to the familiar incarnations remains a mystery. However, it has been confirmed he won't be traveling alone. Companions have always been just as important to the show as the Doctor himself, and this version travels with new friends Hannah, Beastie (some kind of alien creature), and Toast-IE (who appears to be a sentient toaster robot), with the four exploring strange worlds aboard the TARDIS throughout 52 11-minute episodes. The BBC has also confirmed that familiar enemies will return, including the Daleks, and the show is scheduled to arrive on CBeebies and BBC iPlayer in late 2027 or early 2028. There are also some intriguing details in the first-look artwork. The young Doctor is holding a sonic screwdriver that bears a striking resemblance to the Eleventh Doctor's sonic screwdriver. That doesn't necessarily establish a canonical connection, but between the familiar gadget, the Daleks, and the TARDIS itself, TARDIS Crew is clearly embracing Doctor Who’s rich lore and history rather than merely borrowing the franchise's name. Doctor Who: TARDIS Crew Is As Good As It Gets For Fans Right Now An animated spinoff probably wasn't what most Whovians imagined when wondering what would follow Ncuti Gatwa's Doctor Who era. TARDIS Crew is directly being created for the franchise's youngest potential viewers, and is clearly set early in the Doctor’s personal timeline, meaning it won’t address any existing cliffhangers. For existing adult fans waiting to discover what happened after Billie Piper's appearance, it isn't remotely a substitute for another season of the main show. Unfortunately, it's also as good as things currently get for Doctor Who. The BBC announced in June 2026 that Doctor Who would be put out to competitive tender as it determines the show's next phase, and this remains the case. The previously confirmed 2026 Christmas special isn’t happening either. Not only is there no return date for a new season of Doctor Who, it’s still unknown if the show will even be back at all. Still, uncertainty and cancellation aren’t the same thing. The BBC has repeatedly insisted that it remains committed to Doctor Who, even after the Disney+ partnership ended. Every announcement around the show’s future has described Doctor Who as an important part of the BBC and framed the current hiatus as a necessary step towards securing the series for future generations. In this context, TARDIS Crew is a small but meaningful victory. It is currently the only confirmed upcoming Doctor Who TV series, and the BBC is investing in 52 episodes specifically designed to turn preschoolers into Whovians. That doesn't answer when the live-action TARDIS will fly again, nor does it explain the Doctor’s apparent regeneration into Billie Piper. Still, after months of uncertainty, confirmation that the Doctor will be embarking on new adventures, even animated ones for preschoolers, is tangible evidence that the BBC's isn’t bluffing about its plans to keep the Whoniverse alive. Release Date 1963 - 1989-00-00 Network BBC One, BBC Television Directors Douglas Camfield, David Maloney, Christopher Barry, Michael E. Briant, Barry Letts, Michael Ferguson, Peter Moffatt, Richard Martin, Chris Clough, Lennie Mayne, Pennant Roberts, Ron Jones, Paddy Russell, Paul Bernard, Michael Hayes, Timothy Combe, Morris Barry, Graeme Harper, Gerald Blake, Hugh David, Mervyn Pinfield, Rodney Bennett, Waris Hussein, John Gorrie Cast Barry Jackson Gordon Lowery Writers Robert Holmes, Bob Baker, Malcolm Hulke, Dave Martin, David Whitaker, Brian Hayles, Robert Sloman, David Fisher, Dennis Spooner, Terrance Dicks, Eric Saward, John Lucarotti, Don Houghton, Chris Boucher, Ian Stuart Black, Louis Marks, Peter Grimwade, Henry Lincoln, Johnny Byrne, Mervyn Haisman, Jane Baker, Pip Baker, Robert Banks Stewart, Anthony Read Creator(s) Donald Wilson, Sydney Newman