EXCLUSIVE: Russell T Davies has shared the real reason he left Doctor Who, more than two decades after he famously revived the iconic sci-fi series for the BBC19:52, 03 Jul 2026Russell T Davies has shared the real reason he left Doctor Who. The screenwriter, 63, famously spearheaded the BBC's revival of their sci-fi staple in 2005 and remained as showrunner for five years, before making a comeback in 2023.‌However, just weeks ago, Russell, who is also behind hit dramas such as Queer As Folk, and, more recently, Cucumber and Tip Toe, announced his decision to leave Doctor Who once again, just as the BBC revealed that a Christmas special, which was heavily anticipated to star Billie Piper, would not go ahead.‌At the time, he said: "There won’t be a Christmas special, we only cooked that up to guarantee a future when no one knew what would happen, but now we do know, there’s no need for it," and it was thought that this was referring to uncertainty brought on by Disney’s decision to pull out its funding last year, leading to speculation that the BBC would abandon the show altogether.‌Now, Russell has seemingly confirmed that there was no bad blood behind the scenes, as, speaking exclusively to The Mirror at the Attitude Awards in London, he said: "Time to move on, that's all."Russell is instead looking forward to other projects, including a dance show based on his Channel 4 series It's A Sin, which starred Olly Alexander and explored the AIDs epidemic in the 1980s, and is pleased with the success of Tip Toe.‌He added: "I just had Tip Toe go out. And there's the It's A Sin stage show, the dance show that's coming out. In February. It's quite strange with dance shows, with theatre shows, because they have lots of launches."It's in Manchester in February, then it goes to Cardiff in June, then it's Sadler's Wells in the autumn. So it keeps launching. I feel excited."Announcing his departure from the show, he said on Instagram on June 10: "And so GOODBYE from me to Doctor Who but HELLO to a big new future for the show, as the BBC announces it’s putting the show out to tender. As a result, there won’t be a Christmas Special - we only cooked that up to guarantee a future when no one knew what would happen, but now we do know, there’s no need for it.‌"You’ll have to wait a bit longer for new Doctor Who… but you’ll be waiting for MORE Doctor Who than a one-off. So it’s worth it! For the record: there was no script, I never wrote it, and no actor was ever approached to play the next Doctor. You may disagree; fine, sit in that chair and wait to be proved right. You’ll wait a lonnng time."Now I’m as excited as anyone to see what comes next! Will they keep the theme tune? Will they lose the blue box? Will they bring back the Drahvin?! It’s all up for grabs, which is so Doctor Who, exciting and unpredictable and new! Here comes the future, vworp vworp."‌Russell's comments come amid fan confusion regarding the Christmas special that was apparently in the works. The last episode to air featured Billie Piper, who previously starred as Rose Tyler on the series, seemingly being unveiled as the next Time Lord following the departure of Ncuti Gatwa.In December's Doctor Who Magazine, he suggested that it was going well, writing: “Next December, I'll be here to trumpet and toot about the 2026 Christmas Special. It contains these three words, "Bafflers," "Winternox" and "village".One confused fan told him: "You say that you never wrote a script for the Christmas special and you're right to assume we wouldn't believe that. But here's the unfortunate truth of the matter: you're a liar either way. You either lied about having the script written, or you're lying now."‌Fans then took to social media to express their dismay. One fan said: "To say you didn’t even write it when we’ve all been led to believe something was going to be waiting under the Christmas tree - I’m sorry, but that was not fair at all."The festive special since it was announced by BBC drama boss Lindsay Salt in the autumn. Now the tender process is likely to take at least a year, with another year or 18 months needed for the writing and filming of the series - leaving fans to fear no new episodes will be ready until the end of 2028 at the very earliest. One said: “We’ll probably have to wait until 2039 or something now.”Another viewer said they should have just got on with the tender process last autumn. "Potentially they could have been getting ready to announce the new production company instead of spending eight months on an imaginary Christmas special,” they moaned.Article continues belowA BBC source said the announcement about the Christmas special had been made in good faith at the time.Like this story? For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads .