Thanks to the TARDIS being able to travel through time and space, there’s just no telling where “Doctor Who” will appear next. The same can’t be said about where the longest running science-fiction program on television will air. The show, which has aired on BBC (and in American on BBC One), has recently bounced all over the streaming sphere. For its 60th anniversary and beyond, its made a hop over to perhaps an unexpected home.
Back in 2019, HBO Max acquired the streaming rights to “Doctor Who“ for all the seasons from 2005 (Christopher Eccleston as the Ninth Doctor) onward. As far as we know, that will remain the case for the episodes with the Thirteenth Doctor, Jodie Whittaker. Moving forward, new episodes with Fourteenth Doctor Ncuti Gatwa will be streaming on Disney+ for all regions outside of the UK and Ireland. The BBC will retain the rights within those countries.
“I love this show, and this is the best of both worlds,” returning showrunner Russel T. Davies said. “With the vision and joy of the BBC and Disney+ together we can launch the TARDIS all around the planet, reaching a new generation of fans while keeping our traditional home firmly on the BBC in the UK.”
The next season of “Doctor Who” is set for 2023, as a series of specials. These will also be the first episodes to appear on Disney+.
Upcoming Doctor Gatwa made note of this in an appearance on “Live with Kelly and Ryan,” which admittedly, not the first place you’d expect to hear “Doctor Who” news, but we’ll take what we can get. It will be interesting to see what happens to the pre-existing catalog of episodes though; it’s hard to imagine Disney only being happy with the new seasons and not wanting to get all of it under their auspices.
The most recent finale of “Doctor Who” aired on October 23rd, 2022. So if you’re trying to avoid information about it, be wary of searching around the internet.
Or as River Song once said-
