Disney and Doctor Who part ways

[Samurai8472]

Disney+ Officially Exiting ‘Doctor Who’ Partnership With BBC After Two Seasons

Disney+ is pulling out of the 'Doctor Who' BBC deal after two seasons but the show will continue with a CHristmas special written by RUssell T Davies.

deadline.com

2026 Christmas special planned to be written by RTD

BBC confirms future of Doctor Who and a new Christmas Special in 2026

Fans of the beloved series have much to enjoy ahead of the special, with The War Between the Land and the Sea and a new animation series for CBeebies, which is in development

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[King Bob!]

Ouch.

 

[Rich Watson]

Ouch.

It's not exactly a shock is it?

The key thing is the BBC absolutely want the series to continue and they can get rid of Piper and leave a clean slate for its full return.

Just don't call it Season 1 again!

 

[King Bob!]

It's not exactly a shock is it?

Nope. Which is why I didn’t respond, “ouch!”

 

[David cgc]

Details of future seasons will be announced in due course along with more information on an animation for pre-school children.

Oh, yeah, that. Looking forward to the Doctor destroying fifty different novelty asteroids.

 

[Rich Watson]

Oh, yeah, that. Looking forward to the Doctor destroying fifty different novelty asteroids.

Given how much money pre-schooler shows make we should all be rooting for it. Especially if they offer it as a package deal with new main series.

 

[The Nightmare Doctor]

Not a surprise.

I wonder what this means for the Disney-produced episodes. Will they be forever exclusive to Disney+ or will their streaming rights be packaged with the rest of the modern era episodes in the future?

I feel like this has been discussed before but I don't remember if anything concrete was determined.

 

[Rich Watson]

I can't imagine it wasn't in the contract.

And Disney have given up the rights to other co-produced shows to other steamers with no fuss.

 

[Jax]

Good it was a poor fit from the start.

Going with season 1 again despite no hiatus break like 2005 had from the previous run that ended in 1989. The fact it held onto the nonsense Timeless Child story that altered who the Doctor was and the short number of episodes per season. We need a clean slate but that Rose Piper cliff-hanger will need answering.

Personally I do think Doctor Who needs a hiatus still. Do a big Christmas special to celebrate the last 20 years and leave the next Doctor unknown until it returns in several years like 2030.

 

[valkyrie013]

Guess Russel T Davis Didn't save Doctor Who... .. I brought you into the World I can take you out!!!

Wonder what is next.. BBC partnered with the mouse to pay for it because it was getting to expensive. Maybe they'll retire it for a bit.

 

[Samurai8472]

Wonder what is next.. BBC partnered with the mouse to pay for it because it was getting to expensive. Maybe they'll retire it for a bit.

No. They'll still keep calm and carry on.

They just need to find a new international media distributor. Disney was just a really high profile one.

Even RTD said something to the extent "We'll just go back to filming in the quarries and tin foil monsters"

Nothing too major has changed.


In the rest of the world,

"Begun the bidding war has........."


Could it end up on Netflix or HBO Max in the US?

 

[valkyrie013]

well the Christmas special is for 2026.. so have plenty of time for the dust to settle and see where they go. Maybe tie up loose ends with the special and regenerate into someone new, they'll figure out whats happening in the intervening year.

 

[David cgc]

Given how much money pre-schooler shows make we should all be rooting for it. Especially if they offer it as a package deal with new main series.

I am pulling for it, just based on the RFP the BBC sent out, but after seeing Scouts... oh, boy. Woof.

 

[V'Lias]

Even RTD said something to the extent "We'll just go back to filming in the quarries and tin foil monsters"

If it could mean having the tone and type of stories from the earlier seasons of the 2005 show, then bring on the low budget episodes! So many of them are still quite memorable.

 

[Rich Watson]

I can't imagine it wasn't in the contract.

And Disney have given up the rights to other co-produced shows to other steamers with no fuss.

Just replying to myself to point out you can get the 60th Specials and S1 (can we call it S14 now please?) on Amazon Prime and Apple TV, so it was a limited exclusivity.

 

[The Nightmare Doctor]

S1 (can we call it S14 now please?)

I never stopped calling it that.

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

Just replying to myself to point out you can get the 60th Specials and S1 (can we call it S14 now please?) on Amazon Prime and Apple TV, so it was a limited exclusivity.

I never stopped calling it that.

Since we're broaching this subject, here's my take on the season numbering of the past few years, according to me and me only:

Season 14:
The 2023 David Tennant Specials

Series 1: OR Season 15:
Ncuti Gatwa's first season, spanning the 2023 Christmas Special and Disney's first series

Series 2, OR Season 16:
Ncuti Gatwa's second season, spanning the 2024 Christmas Special and Disney's second and final series

So really, the next series could be series 3/season 17. But I count the Tennant specials as a series.

 

[Turtletrekker]

It's not exactly a shock is it?

The key thing is the BBC absolutely want the series to continue and they can get rid of Piper and leave a clean slate for its full return.

Just don't call it Season 1 again!

I called it season 41.

 

[camdudetenger2018]

Disney+ Officially Exiting ‘Doctor Who’ Partnership With BBC After Two Seasons

Disney+ is pulling out of the 'Doctor Who' BBC deal after two seasons but the show will continue with a CHristmas special written by RUssell T Davies.

deadline.com

2026 Christmas special planned to be written by RTD

BBC confirms future of Doctor Who and a new Christmas Special in 2026

Fans of the beloved series have much to enjoy ahead of the special, with The War Between the Land and the Sea and a new animation series for CBeebies, which is in development

www.bbc.co.uk

what the

oh my

this is gotta be the biggest breaking news in doctor who history since 2023 when disney joined forces with doctor who