Doctor Who Series 14 will start airing on TV on 11th May 2024, but there’s been quite a shake-up, thanks to streaming rights…

Every episode will debut at the same time across the world (or at least wherever there’s Disney+), but actually, that’s what’s causing complaints. Because for those in the UK, for the first time ever, two episodes will premiere on BBC iPlayer at 00:00 on Saturday, before arriving on BBC One later that day right before the Eurovision Song Contest Grand Final.

The episodes will release at the same time on Disney+. So that means that outside the UK, Doctor Who begins streaming 10th May 2024 at 7pm ET on Disney+ where available.

An episode will continue to drop on BBC iPlayer at 00:00 on Saturdays, followed by a primetime slot on BBC One each week following that, and ditto on Disney+.

But of course, that means that a UK TV show will likely be seen by UK audiences after viewers in America, Canada, etc. — that is, unless people in the UK stay up until 2am.

Yeah, you’ve messed up, BBC.

Russell T Davies, showrunner, says:

“At last, it’s my great delight to unleash a whole new season of the Doctor and Ruby’s adventures together. Monsters! Chases! Villains! Mysteries! And a terrifying secret that’s been spanning time and space for decades. Don’t miss a second!”

Series 14 is the first with Ncuti Gatwa as the Fifteenth Doctor and Millie Gibson as Ruby Sunday. It’ll also see the return of Michelle Greenidge as Carla Sunday, Angela Wynter as Cherry Sunday, and Anita Dobson as Mrs Flood as well as featuring an array of special guest stars including Jinkx Monsoon, Aneurin Barnard, Yasmin Finney, Jonathan Groff, Bonnie Langford (yay for Mel Bush!), Jemma Redgrave, Lenny Rush, and Indira Varma.

The DWC will put up polls after the UK BBC1 transmissions, but please be aware of spoilers before that because the internet will be rife.

What do we think, DWC readers? Storm in a teacup? Or a major mess?