After months of waiting, the BBC confirmed Disney Plus will not renew its Doctor Who deal – but why might it have fallen through?
The streaming platform announced a trailblazing global partnership in October 2022, as the international home of the long-running sci-fi series with Ncuti Gatwa at the helm of the Tardis as the 15th Doctor.
At the end of this year, the show (currently under returning showrunner Russel T Davies) shocked the nation by airing Ncuti’s unexpected regeneration into Rose Tyler star Billie Piper.
Since then, there has been radio silence on the show’s future with the BBC offering reassurance that Doctor Who would always have a home there – and the promise of an upcoming spin-off, The War Between the Land and the Sea.
Now, that future has been confirmed with the BBC announcing the series will return for a Christmas special in 2026 without Disney Plus, although details of where the show will go from there remain to be seen.
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But what exactly went so wrong between what seemed like a match made in heaven?
Why did Disney Plus end its deal with Doctor Who?
When the show joined forces with Disney Plus, it came with an increased budget, something Davies has mentioned on more than one occasion, with reports of up to £8m per episode.
One former Disney executive – who believes alone the BBC could afford around a £2.5m budget – told Deadline that it was apparent the deal wasn’t for ‘the long term’ early on as it wasn’t ‘doing what it needed to do’.
Another source echoed: ‘The writing has been on the wall for ages. There has been a complete lack of enthusiasm over at Disney.’
This came in tandem with fierce controversy over what appeared to be declining ratings. In the UK, season 15 (otherwise known as season two on Disney Plus) was drawing in an average of just over three million viewers, significantly less than the show’s heyday.
And even 1.5m on average compared to Jodie Whittaker’s era. Although it still remained one of the most popular shows for 18 to 35 year olds for the broadcaster.
Meanwhile, in the US one source called the figures ‘underwhelming’ with Ncuti’s final season not making it onto the Nielsen streaming chart.
There had also been conflict over marketing budget, with one BBC executive claiming ‘it never felt like Disney were making much of a deal’ while another source told The Times ‘a lot of marketing muscle’ was present for the show.
Elsewhere, another insider claimed that there were concerns that the show was becoming ‘too woke for Trump’s USA’.
The series has had to battle constant criticisms of ‘wokeness’ from certain groups since its return for its inclusion of transgender character Rose (played by Yasmin), as well as tackling wider themes around sexuality and race.
Metro’s Rebecca Cook on the future of Doctor Who
Senior TV Reporter Rebecca shared her views on how the show can survive going forward…
I want to caveat what comes next by saying that I think Russell T Davies is a visionary, who is in large part the reason we’re all here still talking about Doctor Who after the TV show was quietly shelved in the 80s.
I have no doubt the years since he first revived the franchise in 2005 he has come across obstacles which he has overcome confidently.
He’s a legend, but I no longer believe he is the right person to run this show.
There’s also only so many times you can mount the mammoth task of revitalising a once-phenomenally successful franchise as show-runner.
It’s time Davies left that job to someone else.
Discussing the woke accusations in April, Davies said: ‘Someone always brings up matters of diversity. And there are online warriors accusing us of diversity and wokeness and involving messages and issues.
‘And I have no time for this. I don’t have a second to bear [it]. Because what you might call diversity, I just call an open door.’
There are still plenty of questions remaining.
Will the BBC continue to work with Bad Wolf – the home of the reboot? Will Billie Piper return as the 16th Doctor proper? And will Davies stay on or pass the baton onto a new showrunner after the festivities come to an end?
Metro has reached out to Disney Plus for comment.
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