Broadcaster says it is focusing on series’ long-term future after departure of showrunner and producer

The BBC has cancelled the special Christmas episode of Doctor Who amid speculation about the future of the series after Ncuti Gatwa ended his run as the Time Lord.

The broadcaster also said the long-running sci-fi series, which launched in 1963, would be put out to “competitive tender” this year as part of its Royal Charter agreement after the departure of the showrunner Russell T Davies and producer Bad Wolf.

The theatrical prequel to the Duffer Brothers’ smash-hit Netflix series is to shut down in the West End and on Broadway this winter, after selling more than 1.5m tickets

The London and New York productions of Stranger Things: The First Shadow, the theatrical prequel to Netflix’s TV blockbuster, are to both close this winter. The stage spectacular will have run for just over three years in the West End, where it won two Olivier awards, and for just over 20 months on Broadway, where it won four Tony awards. The final performance at the Phoenix theatre in London will be on 27 December and the last show at the Marquis theatre in New York will be on 3 January.

The announcement, made on Tuesday, comes as a surprise considering the TV series’ phenomenal continued success. The November launch of the fifth and final season broke viewing records for an English-language series on Netflix, with 59.6m views in the first five days, and even caused the streaming service to crash within minutes of the episodes first becoming available. In February, it was widely reported that the New York stage production was being filmed for future release, but Netflix has made no such official statement.

Tech company received infrastructure relief as its five biggest UK divisions generate £32bn in revenues

Amazon’s main division in the UK was handed a £7.6m tax credit last year by HM Revenue and Customs, despite profits at the retail-to-streaming company surging by more than a quarter to £355m.

Amazon UK Services – which employs 66,000 staff, the vast majority of the company’s 75,000 employees in Britain – said it owed £9.1m in “current tax” last year.

The late-night host detailed how the Florida liberal arts college became a testing ground for a rightwing agenda

John Oliver dedicated Sunday’s episode of Last Week Tonight to examining how Florida’s New College has been taken over by the conservative state governor, Ron DeSantis, and his allies.

New College used to promote itself with videos that emphasized its inclusive community and unique academic program – a rarity for a US state college.