Deadline has published a rather interesting piece about why Disney didn’t pick up more seasons of Doctor Who, ultimately resulting in this brief hiatus, citing its cost not resulting in it being a ratings success. The show’s idea of messaging, notably identity politics, is apparently another reason.
We must say, before going on, that none of this is confirmed, and we’re frankly unlikely to know the whole truth for some time. Expect an explosive book about this era in a decade or two. However, we tend to believe a lot of what Deadline is saying, seeing as it seems to sum up a lot of the feeling around the programme.
The idea was seemingly to “Marvel-ize” the show, i.e. create a bigger universe. The Marvel franchise exists across multiple mediums but primarily comic books (where it originates) and arguably films. Its multiversal approach results in TV shows, both live action and animated, existing as part of a wider narrative. What recent Doctor Who has done to “Marvel-ize” itself, though, is rather… ambiguous. There’s an upcoming spin-off, The War Between the Land and the Sea, as well as a making-of show, Doctor Who Unleashed, but that’s it. More spin-offs were promised, yet it feels very, very unlikely any (beyond the upcoming Cbeebies animation) will come to fruition.
Deadline reports that one former Disney executive said:
“It was pretty apparent from early on that this wasn’t for the long term. Everyone got the impression that it wasn’t doing what it needed to do to be sustained.”
Another added:
“The writing has been on the wall for ages. There has been a complete lack of enthusiasm over at Disney.”
You get the impression that boats were not being floated as early as Series 14, or Doctor Who Season 1 as it was promoted, i.e. Ncuti Gatwa’s first run of stories as the Fifteenth Doctor; nonetheless, Disney had agreed to signed an order of a set number of episodes, comprising of Series 14, 15, and the spin-off show. Either way, Deadline says the budget was way out of hand:
“The show’s budget was between £6 million ($8.5 million) and £8M per episode, we understand, putting the value of the deal at as much as £168M.
“The former Mouse House employee notes a lack of marketing firepower behind the brand — nowhere near the might of brands like Marvel or Star Wars — creating something of a chicken-and-egg scenario whereby it became harder for Doctor Who to cut through to American audiences.”
Did Disney’s lack of enthusiasm for scripts result in a lack of marketing that ultimately signed its death warrant on the streaming platform?
Elsewhere, Doctor Who‘s declining ratings on the BBC echoed in America, so it was branded one of the “flops” of 2024. Its attitude to identity politics might’ve played a factor, as one source says it was “too woke for [President Donald] Trump’s USA”.
That’s interesting too because many fans would say that Doctor Who has always been “woke”, while others would say the most recent era of the show has preached its messaging more than the past. What’s especially fascinating, however, is that Disney is known for its messaging too: though in the past, it’s been generally thought of as more subtle and considered, in the past few years, Disney has been accused of being too “woke”.
Deadline also places some blame on Gatwa, which I think is very unfair. A mysterious source claims he’s not been as good an ambassador for the series as previous Doctors. That seems at odds with what I’ve seen, which is his overall enthusiasm and love of the series in every interview he’s given.
Plus, blaming the lead actor stinks of the 1980s again, which is not a very favourable allusion.
Deadline goes on to question firstly the show’s ongoing budget (a big cut is inevitable) and secondly Doctor Who‘s home in foreign territories now that Disney has pulled the plug. Another enigmatic source says:
“How do you suddenly convince a buyer to take Doctor Who when it hasn’t been on their platform for so long?”
It’s a fair point. The BBC basically screwed over long-standing deals across the world when it decided to go with Disney+ alone.
But a big back-catalogue is potentially up for grabs, which might be a substantial incentive.
We are inclined to believe Deadline’s article. Whatever happens, though, the future of Doctor Who is still very much uncertain. It’ll return to TV at Christmas next year, so we’ve a while to wait in order to find out the trajectory of the franchise…
