{"id":1147201,"date":"2026-08-14T01:13:20","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T01:13:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1147201\/"},"modified":"2026-08-14T01:13:20","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T01:13:20","slug":"a-huge-and-exciting-next-step-doctor-who-spinoff-gets-big-update-ahead-of-2027-release","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1147201\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;A huge and exciting next step&#8221;: Doctor Who spinoff gets big update ahead of 2027 release"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"3\" class=\"css-1ncddsh emevuu60\">While a new live-action series of Doctor Who might be a while off given <a href=\"https:\/\/www.digitalspy.com\/tv\/a71561009\/doctor-who-off-air-for-years-update\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-vars-ga-outbound-link=\"https:\/\/www.digitalspy.com\/tv\/a71561009\/doctor-who-off-air-for-years-update\/\" data-vars-ga-ux-element=\"Hyperlink\" data-vars-ga-call-to-action=\"the show has been put out to competitive tender\" data-node-id=\"3.3\" class=\"body-link css-1gyyefe emevuu60\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">the show has been put out to competitive tender<\/a>, the animated spin-off is one step closer to getting to our screens as it&#8217;s found a director.<\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"9\" class=\"css-1ncddsh emevuu60\">Set to air on CBeebies for two seasons, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.digitalspy.com\/tv\/a65043706\/doctor-who-bbc-expanding-whoniverse-first\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-vars-ga-outbound-link=\"https:\/\/www.digitalspy.com\/tv\/a65043706\/doctor-who-bbc-expanding-whoniverse-first\/\" data-vars-ga-ux-element=\"Hyperlink\" data-vars-ga-call-to-action=\"the separate animated series\" data-node-id=\"9.1\" class=\"body-link css-1gyyefe emevuu60\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">the separate animated series<\/a> aimed at pre-schoolers hails from animation studio Blue Zoo and has now announced Dominic Minns as its director.<\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"13\" class=\"css-1ncddsh emevuu60\">Known for directing CBeebies shows such as Supertato and the first season of Mojo Swoptops, as well as creating the BAFTA-winning children&#8217;s show Tee and Me, Minns celebrated the appointment in a statement, saying that  it &#8220;feels like a huge and exciting next step&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p><img draggable=\"true\" alt=\"ncuti gatwa, doctor who\" title=\"Ncuti Gatwa, Doctor Who\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"4500\" height=\"3000\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" style=\"color:transparent;width:100%;height:auto;\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/ncuti-gatwa-doctor-who-65e1c3622e211.jpg\" class=\"css-0 e1ddfba50\"\/><\/p>\n<p>BBC<\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"18\" class=\"css-1ncddsh emevuu60\"><strong data-node-id=\"18.0\">Related: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.digitalspy.com\/tech\/best-tech-deals\/g35899960\/best-streaming-services\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-vars-ga-outbound-link=\"https:\/\/www.digitalspy.com\/tech\/best-tech-deals\/g35899960\/best-streaming-services\/\" data-vars-ga-ux-element=\"Hyperlink\" data-vars-ga-call-to-action=\"Best streaming services UK 2026 \u2013 including Disney Plus, Netflix, iPlayer and Apple TV\" data-node-id=\"18.0.1\" class=\"body-link css-1gyyefe emevuu60\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Best streaming services UK 2026 \u2013 including Disney Plus, Netflix, iPlayer and Apple TV<\/a><\/strong><br data-node-id=\"18.1\"\/><\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"22\" class=\"css-1ncddsh emevuu60\">&#8220;I&#8217;m especially thrilled to be working on the CBeebies Doctor Who animation,&#8221; the director added. &#8220;My goal is to fully utilise the full talents of both Blue and Brighton Zoo to capture the epic scale and wonder of the series, while making it delightful, funny, and relatable for preschoolers. It&#8217;s an honour to be here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"26\" class=\"css-1ncddsh emevuu60\">Co-founder of Blue Zoo Adam Shaw also addressed Minns helming the upcoming series in a statement, saying: &#8220;We are hugely proud to have his creative vision at Blue Zoo, and specifically on our exciting next project, an animated Doctor Who for CBeebies. We can&#8217;t wait to see how he breathes life into this show.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"31\" class=\"css-1ncddsh emevuu60\">Patricia Hidalgo, Director of BBC Children&#8217;s &amp; Education, added: &#8220;We can&#8217;t wait to welcome the Doctor to CBeebies, introducing this beloved family favourite to our youngest audience for the very first time. This new series further strengthens our commitment to the British animation industry by championing homegrown productions with the potential to travel the world and, perhaps even through time and space.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><img draggable=\"true\" alt=\"doctor who stars ncuti gatwa and millie gibson in the tardis, with the doctor's diner style jukebox in the background behind them\" title=\"Doctor Who - Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson in the TARDIS\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"4285\" height=\"2857\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" style=\"color:transparent;width:100%;height:auto;\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/doctor-who-ncuti-gatwa-millie-gibson-tardis-6585b834142d7.jpeg\" class=\"css-0 e1ddfba50\"\/><\/p>\n<p>James Pardon\/\/BBC<\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"36\" class=\"css-1ncddsh emevuu60\">&#8220;The bidding process for this project was exceptionally competitive, and we would like to commend all the shortlisted producers for the outstanding quality and depth of their proposals.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"40\" class=\"css-1ncddsh emevuu60\">As the Doctor is debuting in an unprecedented animated form next year, the main show has been offered to other platforms after <a href=\"https:\/\/www.digitalspy.com\/tv\/a71544615\/russell-t-davies-doctor-who-exit\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-vars-ga-outbound-link=\"https:\/\/www.digitalspy.com\/tv\/a71544615\/russell-t-davies-doctor-who-exit\/\" data-vars-ga-ux-element=\"Hyperlink\" data-vars-ga-call-to-action=\"returning showrunner Russell T Davies\" data-node-id=\"40.1\" class=\"body-link css-1gyyefe emevuu60\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">returning showrunner Russell T Davies<\/a> and production company Bad Wolf have exited the project in June this year.<\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"44\" class=\"css-1ncddsh emevuu60\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.digitalspy.com\/tv\/a64419850\/doctor-who-quiz\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-vars-ga-outbound-link=\"https:\/\/www.digitalspy.com\/tv\/a64419850\/doctor-who-quiz\/\" data-vars-ga-ux-element=\"Hyperlink\" data-vars-ga-call-to-action=\"Take our interdimensional Doctor Who quiz!\" data-node-id=\"44.0\" class=\"body-link css-1gyyefe emevuu60\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><strong data-node-id=\"44.0.0\">Take our interdimensional Doctor Who quiz!<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"48\" class=\"css-1ncddsh emevuu60\"><strong data-node-id=\"48.0\">Doctor Who<\/strong><strong data-node-id=\"48.1\"> airs on BBC One in the UK and <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/go.redirectingat.com\/?id=127X991730&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fdisneyplus.com%2Fen-gb%2Fwelcome&amp;sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.digitalspy.com%2Ftv%2Fa65043706%2Fdoctor-who-bbc-expanding-whoniverse-first%2F&amp;xs=1&amp;xcust=%5Butm_source%7C%5Butm_campaign%7C%5Butm_medium%7C%5Bgclid%7C%5Bmsclkid%7C%5Bfbclid%7C%5Brefdomain%7C%5Bcontent_id%7C0ef0939a-fe16-4b9a-9203-fcc86884ab6e%5Bcontent_product_id%7Cdeb2c867-3dc9-43d3-bae8-bf10e658b173%5Bproduct_retailer_id%7C55a6e1a8-0e14-46ad-a97e-54fdad20e3cd%5Blt%7C%5Baxid%7Cdcddd863-f151-4975-a46a-aa0296b4fc7e%5D\" target=\"_blank\" data-vars-ga-outbound-link=\"https:\/\/disneyplus.com\/en-gb\/welcome\" data-vars-ga-ux-element=\"Hyperlink\" data-vars-ga-call-to-action=\"Disney+\" data-vars-ga-product-id=\"deb2c867-3dc9-43d3-bae8-bf10e658b173\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" data-node-id=\"48.2\" data-href=\"https:\/\/disneyplus.com\/en-gb\/welcome\" data-product-url=\"https:\/\/disneyplus.com\/en-gb\/welcome\" data-affiliate=\"true\" data-affiliate-url=\"https:\/\/go.redirectingat.com?id=127X991730&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fdisneyplus.com%2Fen-gb%2Fwelcome\" data-affiliate-network=\"{&quot;site_id&quot;:&quot;53fd7fa5-d43c-401b-823b-b21cf6cddcd6&quot;,&quot;network&quot;:{&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Skimlinks&quot;}}\" data-fp-affiliate-inline-link=\"true\" data-fp-affiliate-button-link=\"false\" data-vars-ga-product-brand=\"disneyplus.com\" data-vars-ga-product-retailer-id=\"55a6e1a8-0e14-46ad-a97e-54fdad20e3cd\" data-vars-ga-product-sem3-brand=\"disneyplus.com\" data-vars-ga-link-treatment=\"(not set) | (not set)\" data-vars-ga-axid=\"dcddd863-f151-4975-a46a-aa0296b4fc7e\" class=\"body-link css-1gyyefe emevuu60\"><strong data-node-id=\"48.2.0\">Disney+<\/strong><\/a><strong data-node-id=\"48.3\"> elsewhere. Classic episodes of <\/strong><strong data-node-id=\"48.4\">Doctor Who <\/strong><strong data-node-id=\"48.5\">are available on BBC iPlayer in the UK.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"52\" class=\"css-1ncddsh emevuu60\"><a href=\"https:\/\/bit.ly\/dsdoctorwhoforum\" target=\"_blank\" data-vars-ga-outbound-link=\"https:\/\/bit.ly\/dsdoctorwhoforum\" data-vars-ga-ux-element=\"Hyperlink\" data-vars-ga-call-to-action=\"Interested in talking about Doctor Who? Visit our dedicated sub-forum\" data-node-id=\"52.0\" class=\"body-link css-1gyyefe emevuu60\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><strong data-node-id=\"52.0.0\">Interested in talking about <\/strong><strong data-node-id=\"52.0.1\">Doctor Who<\/strong><strong data-node-id=\"52.0.2\">? Visit our dedicated sub-forum<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"56\" class=\"css-1ncddsh emevuu60\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.digitalspy.com\/doctor-who\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-vars-ga-outbound-link=\"https:\/\/www.digitalspy.com\/doctor-who\/\" data-vars-ga-ux-element=\"Hyperlink\" data-vars-ga-call-to-action=\"Read more Doctor Who news on our dedicated homepage\" data-node-id=\"56.0\" class=\"body-link css-1gyyefe emevuu60\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><strong data-node-id=\"56.0.0\">Read more <\/strong><strong data-node-id=\"56.0.1\">Doctor Who<\/strong><strong data-node-id=\"56.0.2\"> news on our dedicated homepage<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"61\" class=\"css-1ncddsh emevuu60\"><strong data-node-id=\"61.0\">Visit our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.digitalspy.com\/tv\/a70049607\/streaming-guide\/\" data-vars-ga-outbound-link=\"https:\/\/www.digitalspy.com\/tv\/a70049607\/streaming-guide\/\" data-vars-ga-ux-element=\"Hyperlink\" data-vars-ga-call-to-action=\"Streaming Guide\" data-node-id=\"61.0.1\" class=\"body-link css-1gyyefe emevuu60\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Streaming Guide<\/a> now to see at a glance where you can view ALL your favourite shows and movies.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p data-journey-content=\"true\" data-node-id=\"65\" class=\"css-1ncddsh emevuu60\"><strong data-node-id=\"65.0\">The new edition of Legends, a 100-page all-colour celebration of Ariana Grande, is here! <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hearstmagazines.co.uk\/livinglegendsarianagrande\" data-vars-ga-outbound-link=\"https:\/\/www.hearstmagazines.co.uk\/livinglegendsarianagrande\" data-vars-ga-ux-element=\"Hyperlink\" data-vars-ga-call-to-action=\"Buy Ariana Grande in newsagents or online\" data-node-id=\"65.0.3\" class=\"body-link css-1gyyefe emevuu60\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Buy Ariana Grande in newsagents or online<\/a>.<\/strong><br data-node-id=\"65.1\"\/><\/p>\n<p><img src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1786670000_214_a5577bef-f874-41e6-b03b-0f8d9f1e5f46_1686136547.file.png\" alt=\"Headshot of Stefania Sarrubba\" title=\"Headshot of Stefania Sarrubba\" width=\"100%\" height=\"100%\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"css-o0wq4v ev8dhu53\"\/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Reporter, Digital Spy<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Stefania is a freelance writer specialising in TV and movies. After graduating from City University, London, she covered LGBTQ+ news and pursued a career in entertainment journalism, with her work appearing in outlets including Little White Lies, The Skinny, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/author\/stefaniasarrubba\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Radio Times<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.digitalspy.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Digital Spy<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Her beats are horror films and period dramas, especially if fronted by queer women. She can argue why Scream is the best slasher in four languages (and a half).\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"While a new live-action series of Doctor Who might be a while off given the show has been&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1147202,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3937],"tags":[238361,215877,1380,311915,1331,77,258961,1330,311914,291041,382,16,15],"class_list":["post-1147201","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-collection-doctor-who","tag-collection-latest-news","tag-content-type-news","tag-contentid-51f425c8-c742-4a23-a936-8507ff86dc31","tag-displaytype-standard-article","tag-entertainment","tag-issyndicated-false","tag-locale-gb","tag-shorttitle-doctor-who-spinoff-gets-big-update-ahead-of-2027-release","tag-sponsored-false","tag-tv","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/117091213862906538","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1147201","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1147201"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1147201\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1147202"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1147201"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1147201"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1147201"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}