On 17 September 2026, the BBC posted its Doctor Who Invitation to Tender (ITT), laying out its parameters for interested suppliers to pitch to produce the programme.

In an interview on The Whoniverse Show ‒ which likely took place before the Doctor Who ITT was posted, host Christel Dee asked Fifth Doctor actor Peter Davison what he would like to see from the programme in the future.

“I was talking my son who, about two years ago, sat down and watched every single episode of the old Doctors and and new Doctors. It took him about a year to go through them. He said that it ought to have a reboot and just go back to basics.”

“Just start from a simple idea of… time traveller from planet Gallifrey turns up.”

Davison continued with his minimalist view on the use of special effects.

“There’s something about those old programs where you know, especially the early ones of William Hartnell ones where the the there are virtually no special effects. If you’re not careful, the special effects take over the narrative. So it’s not… the narrative is lost. And it just becomes a succession of sort of special effects extravaganzas.”

The Doctor Who tender process began with the BBC inviting interested production companies to submit an eligibility application by 2 October 2026. The BBC will then select eligible production companies for a competitive tender process which will end with one of them announced by March 2027.