Doctor Who will leave HBO Max at the end of this month, and that might be more important to the future of the show than many realise.

Series 1 to 13, starring Christopher Eccleston, David Tennant, Matt Smith, Peter Capaldi, and Jodie Whittaker as the Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh, Twelfth, and Thirteenth Doctors respectively, will disappear off the service in America on 31st July 2025, and that’s particularly significant because it means that a large library of content will be made available for other streamers to pick up. Spin-offs, Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures are also due to vanish from HBO Max at the end of the month.

Bleeding Cool’s Ray Flook argues that this could be enough for a streaming service to invest in the future of the series — perhaps even Disney+, which has supported Ncuti Gatwa’s two seasons as the Fifteenth Doctor but which has reportedly been upset with the programme’s reception and so has refused to confirm whether it’ll help finance any further seasons. Flook suggests:

“Of course, that also makes a streaming deal even more attractive for the likes of Netflix and Amazon’s Prime Video. The former has proven that it knows how to market already successful shows to new levels of success (for example, Suits), while the latter has proven it knows how to handle (and grow) a popular franchise.”

Indeed, it seems that the BBC doesn’t want to be the sole financiers of the franchise anymore, meaning a streaming partner would be needed. Many have proposed Amazon Prime as having the answer.

These streamers often invest in a whole library, i.e. they want content, content, content, and current Who simply isn’t ticking that box right now. Eight or nine episodes are a year simply aren’t enough; but to be given access to thirteen previous seasons too… That might be enough to garner interest.

Of course, it also means that, after this month, American viewers might not easily be able to watch those seasons without physical copies.

We’ll just have to wait and see.