Posted in: BBC, TV | Tagged: doctor who

Doctor Who: Are We Getting Closer to BBC's Official Tender Time?

Looking back at a previous BBC show put out for tender, here's why we might be getting close to learning more about the future of Doctor Who.

"As part of securing the next phase of the show for future generations, and in line with the BBC's Charter and Agreement requirements, the BBC will put Doctor Who out to competitive tender this year. Doctor Who remains an important part of the BBC and this tender underpins the BBC's continued commitment to Doctor Who ensuring audiences will enjoy the show for years to come. After careful consideration, the BBC, Russell T Davies and Bad Wolf have collectively decided not to go ahead with the previously announced Doctor Who Christmas episode. This decision was not taken lightly, and we know it will be disappointing for fans, but in order to set the show up for future series, it was decided that rather than bridge the gap with a one off special, we are choosing to push forward to invest in the long-term future of the show which ensures that when the TARDIS lands once more, it does so in all its glory."

On June 10th, the BBC offered Doctor Who fans an update on the show's future – and it wasn't exactly a good one. No Christmas Special, Showrunner Russell T. Davies and Bad Wolf are departing, and the show was being put out to tender. Adding a ton of salt to that metaphorical wound was Davies's follow-up on social media, revealing that there never was a Christmas Special – while leaving a number of questions about the reasoning behind "stretching the truth" for eight months. But for now, the focus is on when the BBC officially puts the show out to tender because that can tell us a lot.

Basically, the BBC put out to potential production teams what it's looking for: the number of episodes, the number of seasons, the length of each episode, and so on. They set a deadline for submitting their pitches, and then the BBC considers what's been submitted to see if it's willing to move ahead with one of them. From there, a whole lot of additional negotiating goes on behind the scenes, leading (hopefully) to the announcement of a deal. The BBC's tender posting is important because it will give fans their best sense of how the BBC envisions the future of Doctor Who. Is it looking for a three-season, eight-episode-per-season deal? Maybe a three-season deal with 3-5 extra-long episodes per season (like Sherlock)? The tender should provide much more clarity on the matter.

But when can we expect the BBC to officially put Doctor Who out to tender? While this is far from an exact science, it's possible that the tender process that drama series Casualty went through. On April 23rd, 2025, the BBC announced that the show would be put out to competitive tender, with the official tender posting going live on May 20th (and a deadline of June 3rd). In December 2025, it was announced that BBC Studios had secured the tender. If we use that as a template, we might get the Doctor Who tender around July 6th-7th (putting it at 27 days after the announcement, similar to Casualty). Again, is this set in stone? No. There are several arguments that the two shows' situations are very different. Still, it might be worth keeping your radars dialed up over the next week.

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