On Christmas Day, Disney and the BBC will release the second “Doctor Who” holiday special, which sees Ncuti Gatwa return as the Doctor, a time-travelling alien and the story reveals what happens when Joy checks into a London hotel in 2024; she opens a secret doorway to the Time Hotel — discovering danger, dinosaurs and the Doctor. But a deadly plan is unfolding across the Earth, just in time for Christmas.
“Doctor Who” initially launched in 1963 and is one of the longest-running action-adventure television series in the world, with legions of fans across the globe. “Doctor Who” remains one of the most watched programs on iPlayer and was a top 5 series on Disney+ globally every week it aired, as well as being the BBC’s top drama for those under 35 this year, making it one of the biggest programs for the demographic across all streamers and broadcasters.
Back in 2022, the BBC announced it had joined into a new, unique partnership with Disney, which would bring the show to the BBC iPlayer in the UK and on Disney+ everywhere else in the world.
We’ve seen one Christmas special, along with three 60th anniversary specials released under this partnership, plus the first new season of the show and a second season coming out in 2025.
But there has been a big question mark hanging over the future of “Doctor Who”, and that’s because the show doesn’t seem to have been as big a hit on Disney+ as Disney had hoped. We’ve seen Disney barely promote the show like their other originals, and while filming on the second season started before the first season had been released, filming on the third season has been delayed until Disney makes a final decision on their future involvement in “Doctor Who”.
However, earlier this year, Disney and the BBC announced a new “Doctor Who” spin-off series called “The War Between the Land and the Sea”, which will tell the story of what happens when a fearsome and ancient species emerges from the ocean, dramatically revealing themselves to humanity, an international crisis is triggered. With the entire population at risk, UNIT steps into action as the land and sea wage war.
While in most interviews, the showrunner, Russell T Davis, has been very vocal about the future of Disney’s relationship with the BBC for future seasons, that seems to be changing, as during a recent interview on BBC Today on BBC Radio 4, Russell acknowledged that he doesn’t yet know if there will be a third season.
“Oh, I don’t know. I’m loving it. We don’t know if there’s a third series yet. This [Series Two] will go out in the summer and then they’ll decide it. The BBC will decide, as well, its future. But I’m happy to stay with it. I love it. It’s more fun than anything else.”
He also went onto explain why the BBC deal with Disney happened.
“The BBC made a move to go to a streamer. It’s still on BBC One here. It’s still on the iPlayer. It’s just the rest of the world it goes out on Disney+. And the BBC thought, and they went to me, because they thought that the show deserved to look as good as Stranger Things, as the Star Wars shows. Why should we be the humble little show being made in a shoe cupboard? And I think that’s the way everything is heading. Let’s face it, every single drama you ever watch on television has had American money or co-production money in it for about 25 years. So, this is actually nothing new. This is just the next step. And it’s a lovely experiment. We’ve had a great time. And think we’ve made shows that really show that off and we show Britain at its best as well. British crews, entirely British crews, entirely British writers and directors. It shows us off worldwide!”
Russell also shared his thoughts on the general state of the streaming business:
“There are too many streamers, too much money and not everyone is watching so it can’t be financially viable,”
Since the show’s recent revival, the ratings for the show haven’t been as high as in previous seasons, which could be explained by a shift in viewing habits, from linear to streaming, but also, the show has also come under more negative feedback over the years, as a show with over sixty years of history brings more expectations and a more varied audience. Many fans of the show haven’t been happy with the direction of the new “Doctor Who”, with many putting the blame on Russell and Disney.
Roger’s Take: No matter Disney’s involvement in “Doctor Who”, I don’t think the franchise will come to a close should Disney pull its funding, since the BBC will likely find a way to continue it. But I’m not sure Disney’s involvement with “Doctor Who” will continue for many reasons. Mainly, this was a deal put together when Bob Chapek was running the company, and he wanted as much content for Disney+ as quickly as possible. With Bob Iger’s return, he is much more focused on quality over quantity, but more importantly, in building out franchises and since Disney has no control over the “Doctor Who” brand, it can’t take advantage of merchandise sales or use the character in its theme parks. While another imported brand like “Bluey” has been a smash hit for Disney+, “Doctor Who” isn’t pulling in those viewership numbers to make it worthwhile. I also feel Russell might be trying to lay the foundation of a potential change in direction, should Disney not continue their partnership.
