July 25th, 2025
16 comments
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Doctor Who: Circuit Breaker with The Fugitive Doctor
New mixed-media adventure ‘Doctor Who: Circuit Breaker’ coming to the Whoniverse in 2026
The Fugitive Doctor leads an exciting new series of adventures spanning across audio dramas, novels, comics and more.
BBC Studios, in collaboration with BBC Audio, Big Finish Productions, Doctor Who Magazine, East Side Games, Penguin Random House and Titan Comics are excited to announce the upcoming launch of Circuit Breaker, a groundbreaking mixed-media Doctor Who story set to debut in 2026.
Spanning audio dramas, comics, mobile games, novels, and digital storytelling, Circuit Breaker is a bold new chapter in the Whoniverse offering an ambitious interconnected narrative that will unfold across multiple formats, inviting fans to experience the mystery from every angle. The overarching narrative is crafted by Esmie Jikiemi-Pearson, best-selling author and rising star in speculative fiction and features Jo Martin as the Fugitive Doctor.
In Circuit Breaker, strange alien artifacts begin appearing inside UNIT’s Black Archive. Each object is unmistakably linked to a different regeneration of the Doctor, but they’ve been tampered with. A corrupted energy signature of unknown origin pulses through them, and their sudden arrival has torn tiny ruptures across time and space.
UNIT is out of options. To repair the damage and restore the timeline, the objects must be returned to the exact moments they were taken from. If not, the Doctor’s adventures – and the universe itself – could unravel.
To solve the mystery, UNIT calls upon a little-known incarnation of the Time Lord: the Fugitive Doctor, played by Jo Martin, who returns in a central role. But how does UNIT know about her? And is she the Doctor they expect?
Jo Martin commented: “I’m thrilled to tell more stories about the Fugitive Doctor and cannot wait for fans to unlock all the twists and turns across the Circuit Breaker story. This character has always meant so much to me, and it is a joy to continue building her legacy and dive back into the Whoniverse.”
Stephen Davies, SVP Global Licensing, BBC Studios added “Circuit Breaker is an exciting evolution for the Whoniverse. By bringing together world-class partners across publishing, audio, comics, and gaming, we’re creating a truly immersive, multi-platform experience for fans. This is a bold step in expanding the Doctor Who brand, deepening engagement, exploring new stories, and welcoming new audiences into the universe of the Doctor.”
Circuit Breaker will debut in 2026.
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Gordon
July 25th, 2025 - 9:59pmI’ll see how much this one will cost first before I commit. Previous ones got pretty expensive. I am kind of curious with the fugitive’s involvement
Ian smith
July 25th, 2025 - 8:57pmWill dr who be coming back at all at Christmas or next year at all
Mac
July 25th, 2025 - 5:16pmAfter Victorious…I’m out.
Hope others enjoy.
John
July 25th, 2025 - 3:36pmGive us a TV special!! I must admit I didn’t understand TLV and DD is best forgotten in a locked cupboard with Space babies.
I do question whether the average fan can actually afford all the offerings, though. The reason many dipped in and out of TLV and the audios were a bit naff tbh.
Matt
July 25th, 2025 - 5:22pmThese aren’t made for people to buy all the offerings though (at least TLV wasn’t). TLV was made with the intention that people would be able to enjoy it without having to go buy everything. Like I only watched the Daleks animated series and read Defender of the Daleks, and it didn’t feel like I was missing out on the story.
Master of M
July 25th, 2025 - 3:02pmLessons not learned from TLV and DD
Matt
July 25th, 2025 - 5:23pmAnd what exactly were those lessons they should’ve learned? Clearly, those events were profitable enough to do it again.
Whofan44
July 25th, 2025 - 7:17pmActually this to me shows they have learnt lessons. A complaint people had with TLV was that it was to complicated and there was to much (i will concede there was to much) so for Doom’s Day they stripped it back to the core licensees so no stories on t-shirts or included with Eaglemoss figures and they also had it be 1 single thread so it was easy to follow. However people did not seem to like the character they created for it (which the marketing did not help with) but this time they have chosen a character that does not have much content so far but that people seem to like. So yeah it to me feels like they are learning after each one.
Bookcollector
July 25th, 2025 - 2:40pmUnfortunately as I don’t bother with a lot of the material in these (CDs, comics etc) I’m only interested in novels but after the dreadful doom’s day book I might give this a miss. Especially if they are expensive hardbacks.
Radburn
July 25th, 2025 - 7:30pmI don’t buy ANY of the Doctor Who Paperbacks/Hardbacks after Penguin Randomhouse stopped assigning First Edition to their books.
Bookcollector
July 25th, 2025 - 8:33pmI buy books to read so I’m not bothered if they have first edition or no edition in them.
Radburn
July 25th, 2025 - 9:16pmSo do I – But it make’s it feel even more special (In a collection) that it is the First Edition ever printed. It’s even better when I can get it signed by the Author. Later editions change covers & styles which I’m not a big fan of.
bryan
July 25th, 2025 - 2:23pmJo Martin is stunning in her BF series. More more more. No mention of vinyl or Demon. Imagine some fantastic Fugative Art on 12×12.
Looking forward to this very much
DalekAgent
July 25th, 2025 - 2:19pmLets hope this is better than Doom’s Day from the other year lol
rich
July 25th, 2025 - 6:35pmSometimes i watch that trailer to remind myself how bad it was
Okubi0
July 25th, 2025 - 2:04pmExcited to see what this entails. While i loved the Timelord Victorious arc, I was underwhelmed by Doom’s Day… Love Jo Martin.