The Time Lord will not be teleporting away from the BBC anytime soon.
That’s the message from Kate Phillips, the BBC’s new chief content officer, who said the British national broadcaster is committed to Doctor Who — with or without Disney.
Speculation has been swirling around the sci-fi series for months amid plunging ratings and concerns that Disney+ could pull out of its co-production deal with the BBC.
Showrunner Russell T Davies said in June that “we don’t know what’s happening yet” regarding Doctor Who’s future. One thing is certain: Ncuti Gatwa has confirmed his exit as the Doctor.
Season 15 ended on an ambiguous note, as Gatwa regenerated into Billie Piper’s Rose Tyler. Produced by Bad Wolf, spin-off series The War Between The Land And The Sea is up next.
Speaking at the Edinburgh TV Festival, Phillips said: “Rest assured, Doctor Who is going nowhere. Disney has been a great partnership — and it continues with The War Between The Land And The Sea next year — but going forward, with or without Disney, Doctor Who will still be on the BBC … The Tardis is going nowhere.”
Lindsay Salt, the BBC’s director of scripted, added that the corporation was “committed” to Doctor Who, noting that it continues to perform well with young viewers.
Deadline analyzed official seven-day viewing figures for Season 15, and it does not make easy reading for those involved in Doctor Who.
The season averaged 3.2M viewers over its eight episodes, which was half a million viewers down from last year’s season — Gatwa’s first as the Doctor. Compare Season 15 to Jodie Whittaker’s last outing as the Time Lord, and things get grimmer. Season 13 pulled in 1.7M more viewers, averaging 4.9M in 2021.
Deadline used viewing figures from Barb, the UK’s official ratings body. They include on-demand and streaming viewing on televisions, but are not the full picture. Broadcasters and streamers prefer to use 28-day figures, which provide a more conclusive overview. Nonetheless, seven-day viewing is usually directional and the pattern of decline will likely be reflected in Doctor Who’s final ratings.
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