Doctor Who's Streaming Future Depends On A Completely Different Show
The iconic sci-fi show has been in limbo for a while, but it seems like another show entirely will make the difference.
Doctor Who is as British as a Yorkshire pudding and a Cornish pasty, but just because it’s an institution across the pond doesn’t mean it will have a lasting global impact. In 2023, the series celebrated its 60th anniversary with a new deal with Disney+, meaning American viewers could watch the series on a new streaming service with an elevated production budget. However, after two seasons of this new partnership, the global future of the series has remained on the bubble for months now.
Now, a Doctor Who production company executive has revealed that the series’ streaming home is contractually obligated to wait until after more episodes have aired to make a decision, meaning the fate could lie in a mostly-unrelated spinoff series.
Bad Wolf executive Jane Tranter has revealed the specifics of the company’s deal with Disney.
In an interview with Royal Television Society, Jane Tranter, an executive for Doctor Who’s production company Bad Wolf, revealed the ins and outs of Disney+’s contract with the company and BBC Studios. According to Tranter, Disney+ is under an obligation to air 26 episodes with the company. “Then, and only then, does Disney+ have to make a decision about whether or not they want to do more,” she said.
Just to save you the math, so far Disney+ has published 21 episodes: three anniversary specials, two Christmas specials, and two eight-episode seasons. So where do the remaining five come from? At Comic-Con 2024, Doctor Who showrunner Russell T. Davies announced a new spinoff miniseries entitled The War Between the Land and the Sea, and it will conveniently consist of five episodes.
The cast of the upcoming Doctor Who spinoff The War Between The Land and the Sea.
If Disney+ isn’t forced to make a decision until after the spinoff airs sometime in 2026, then it’s likely the show’s reception will factor into the conversation for Doctor Who as a whole. That’s a lot riding on five episodes, and Doctor Who hasn’t had the best of luck with spinoffs: nobody really watched The Sarah Jane Adventures, Torchwood was hit-and-miss, and the less said about Class, the better.
Hopefully, a Doctor Who miniseries without the Doctor will still have the juice to keep audiences — and Disney — coming back for more. Doctor Who itself won’t be going anywhere: “It’s not a question of if Doctor Who returns, but when and how,” Tranter says. All we can do is hope that “how” contains an international partner.
