10 HUGE Revelations About Disney Doctor Who In Russell T Davies' New Memoir

When news broke that Doctor Who’s 2026 Christmas special had been cancelled, RTD claimed that he’d never actually written a script.

But back in December 2025, he revealed that the special contains the words Bafflers, Winternox and village. So which is it Russell?!

Well, while there may not have been a full script, there was definitely a storyline – which, as many had guessed, featured the Daleks. RTD describes the story as follows:

"An olde-worlde English village intercut with a huge, mysterious spaceship, an outer-space festival called Winternox, and lots and lots of Daleks, with something very unexpected hidden away."

So why wasn’t it made? RTD cites three reasons: the fact that Billie Piper was busy filming Wednesday, the fact that he was busy with his new show Tip Toe, and the lack of co-production money.

It also seems like there was just a general lack of impetus from everyone involved. RTD wasn’t even contracted to write the special until March 2026, five months after it was announced.

According to his own account, he’s also the one who ultimately pulled the plug, officially walking away from the project in May 2026, thus allowing the BBC to press on with their plans to put Doctor Who out to tender, which had already been brewing behind the scenes, and were another reason why both parties felt that the special wasn't such a good idea.

So while it may not have gone out on TV, you just know that the special will be adapted for audio or a novel one day. Big Finish is licking its lips as we speak...