October 25th, 2022
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New Logo and Disney+ New Global Home for Doctor Who
Disney+ is to become the new global home for upcoming seasons of Doctor Who outside of the UK and Ireland.
The BBC continues as Doctor Who’s exclusive home in the UK – new episodes will premiere on the BBC and Disney+ in late 2023.
Today the BBC and Disney Branded Television – two giants of entertainment – have come together to transform Doctor Who into a global franchise for UK audiences and the rest of the world.
Under a shared creative vision, they will deliver this quintessentially British show to future generations on an unprecedented scale with Disney+ as the exclusive home for new seasons of Doctor Who outside the UK and Ireland. The announcement – which was made this morning by the next Doctor Who, Ncuti Gatwa, during an appearance on Live with Kelly and Ryan – begins a new collaboration between BBC and Disney Branded Television.
Both partners have aligned under returning showrunner Russell T Davies’ bold vision, who takes control of the TARDIS in 2023. He was responsible for Doctor Who’s revival in 2005 and is credited with propelling the show into one of TV’s biggest hits.
The new episodes will premiere on the BBC and Disney+ beginning in late 2023 for fans all over the world. The show will be produced in Wales by Bad Wolf with BBC Studios Productions.
Russell T Davies says: “I love this show, and this is the best of both worlds – 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.”
Charlotte Moore, BBC’s Chief Content Officer says: “We are thrilled to announce this exciting global partnership with Disney who are the perfect partners to bring this very British show to the rest of the world. Russell T Davies’ vision for Doctor Who has always been out of this world and we are committed to ensuring that audiences across the globe get the opportunity to enjoy the Doctor’s epic adventures with the scale and ambition that they deserve. Joining forces with Disney will elevate the show to even greater heights and reach new audiences so it’s an extremely exciting time for fans in the UK and across the world.”
Alisa Bowen, President, Disney+ says: “We’re excited by the opportunity to bring new seasons of this beloved franchise exclusively to Disney+ and introduce the show to the next generation of audiences in more than 150 markets around the world. The series is a perfect addition to our ever-growing catalog of global content that continues to make Disney+ the home for exceptional storytelling.”
Ayo Davis, President, Disney Branded Television says: “Doctor Who has captivated the imaginations of families around the world for the past six decades. We are so excited about this collaboration with the BBC, and the opportunity to bring this iconic franchise – and Russell T Davies’ brilliant vision – to life for a huge new global audience. Grab your sonic screwdrivers and prepare to travel through time and space!”
Rebecca Glashow, CEO, Global Distribution, BBC Studios says: “We’re delighted to join forces with a partner who shares our vision and ambition for one of the most iconic shows in British TV history. This is great news for everyone who loves Doctor Who, and for all the new fans we will reach through this powerful partnership.”
Jane Tranter & Julie Gardner, Executive Producers and Co-founders, Bad Wolf, says: “For Doctor Who to have the backing of two of the most innovative and respected media organizations in the world is a testament to the unique drive and vision at the heart of this show. Bad Wolf are beyond delighted to be once again working with the genius that is Russell T Davies and, with the exciting new partnership between the BBC and Disney, we can together reach to even greater heights, producing from Wolf Studios Wales ambitious stories through time and space for audiences across the globe.”
The new episodes of Doctor Who will return to screens in November 2023 to coincide with the 60th anniversary and will premiere exclusively on the BBC for the UK and Ireland.
David Tennant will play the Fourteenth Doctor for three specials, before Ncuti Gatwa takes over the role as the Fifteenth Doctor over the festive season. And to celebrate today’s news a new Doctor Who logo was unveiled for a new era.
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Fiona ting
January 12th, 2023 - 3:37pmI like the new Doctor who Logo for this year with new doctor who actor
GuyTheZygon
January 6th, 2023 - 3:02pmLove the updated Diamond logo, it looks absolutely stunning with the red-to-yellow gradient in the lettering – but who on earth picked that horrid lemon yellow frame to go on all merchandise? Such a missed opportunity – I hope The BBC re-examine the sequence and see sense!
Phil
November 12th, 2022 - 7:47pmLove that David is back
Phil
November 12th, 2022 - 5:32pmI love, love, love the retro logo
atl
October 26th, 2022 - 11:19pmlooking forward too this but i hope it doesn t effect the merchandising like doctor who magazine. the dvds and big finish
Haza14
October 25th, 2022 - 10:47pmThis is exciting news I think! Opens up the door for a Marvel Cinematic Universe type arrangement for Doctor Who, but one step at a time! As someone who loves the show it’s always a bit anxiety inducing when something like this happens, thinking how it could go wrong and whether it could be tarnished somehow, but the key here is that Bad Wolf and the BBC will still produce the show, Disney are just the distributor. Presumably they can ask for things (maybe even spin offs if it’s that popular) but it sounds like the BBC, Bad Wolf and therefore Russell will always have a veto. I completely trust that Russell knows what he’s doing. When he was running Torchwood, SJA and all the other things back in the day he always said that Doctor Who came first and all those things can complement it but they should not damage the main show otherwise they wouldn’t do it. I’m sure the same is true in the thinking here. Super excited for what this brings! Something needed to change in the way Doctor Who was marketed to make it relevant to the general public again, and this could certainly be the start of it! Massively pleased it’s still going to be on the BBC in the UK though, hopefully that will never change!
Doctor Stu
October 26th, 2022 - 12:43pmA marvel cinematic universe approach is not a good thing. Disney needs to fill their app with content so it’s a conveyor belt of mediocre marvel output after the other, one show after another after another. It doesn’t matter if it fails or if it succeeds as it’s a show and it’s content. The magic is lost, the heart and charm and effort is lost and it turns a franchise into a money machine.
Whatever decisions are being made doctor who wise, at least it’s still being treated with care and love and respect. I don’t want it turning into another mediocre tiresome conveyor belt franchise
The Moffat Paradox
November 30th, 2022 - 6:57pmWell, there’s always a tension between a franchise’s creative expansion and it’s getting too formulaic.
Would love to see something like humanoids in an offshoot series being in things like the middle of a Dalek/Cyber (or Movellan) or Sontaran/Rutan war without any Gallifreyans in sight unless the plot tied nicely into the main series though.
Done right it would be fully worth its budget and please the suits at the BEEB and Disney+
Prof Horner
October 25th, 2022 - 9:26pmCan we hope that this partnership will eventually lead to Doctor Who’s return to the big screen.
The ergon
October 25th, 2022 - 5:53pmLovely logo. Has that classic 70s look which is my all time favourite, well that and the 80s tubing.
Judooning
October 25th, 2022 - 4:21pmExcellent news. Has it been said if Disney+ will be showing past seasons of Doctor who, or just what’s to come from the 60th onwards?
Drwhofan12
October 25th, 2022 - 4:16pmWill it be on the uk Disney plus
Drwhofan12
October 25th, 2022 - 4:23pmAnd will it just be new who
Button
October 25th, 2022 - 5:55pmI don’t think so. Streaming wise it should be on Iplayer with the classic series being available on BritBox.
Anomie
October 25th, 2022 - 8:15pmSays above Disney is outside the UK so presumably it will be BBC 1 and iplayer for new who and britbox for classic as it states Disney is new who post 23.
Tim M
October 25th, 2022 - 4:03pmLove the new/old logo.
In it’s 60th year, Doctor Who looks set to be bigger globally than ever before!
Really exciting time for fans.
The RTD2 era looks like being a wonderful era. R.T.D is the best TV writer in the business, and since his last stint on Doctor Who has gone from strength to strength. It really couldn’t be in safer hands.
Harldin
October 25th, 2022 - 3:57pmIf this means a big funding increase for Dr Who, I’m all for it. RTD said that he would only return if he had more control over the show and bring in the sort of funding that the BBC simply can’t match. We could be seeing $10M+ per episode here.
As an Australian it will be sad to see the ABC lose the rights but the world moves on.
Whovian
October 25th, 2022 - 3:52pmI like the new logo for the new era, it’s both old and new at the same time. It gives it the classic-style, vintage feel, but also looks brand-new at the same time
Whovian
October 25th, 2022 - 4:27pmAlso think it’s time that my avatar on here regenerated too, and as the Doctor once said, “The moment has been prepared for….”
Whovian
October 25th, 2022 - 4:35pmBooboo, unless it’s no longer an option to do so, how would I change my avatar picture? Would have liked it to have changed along with the series, but can’t find an option to do so (Was a while ago that I set the current picture up)
If you have already mentioned that it’s not possible to do so in a previous post, then I wasn’t aware or missed it, so that’s my problem haha
booboo
October 25th, 2022 - 4:42pmits not done buy us, the image is uploaded by you to https://en.gravatar.com/ and partnered with your email address
Whovian
October 26th, 2022 - 4:09pmThanks for the advice Booboo. Now my avatar has regenerated
Anomie
October 25th, 2022 - 3:17pmWill we still get BBC DVD/bluray releases or will it be streaming only?
booboo
October 25th, 2022 - 3:22pmdont see much changing for the UK, just opens it up to a much bigger worldwide market
Persona
October 25th, 2022 - 3:16pmSo, am I right in assuming Disney now has some say in how Doctor Who is produced? Or are they just the distributer?
Gordon
October 25th, 2022 - 3:27pmThey are Just the distributor
Doctor Stu
October 25th, 2022 - 3:12pmI hate this for some reason. Maybe I’ll change my mind, it just seems a very ‘one foot in the door’ type situation.
RPG74
October 26th, 2022 - 9:11amPresumably the logo will change for upcoming boxsets? That’s going to set off the OCD in some.
booboo
October 26th, 2022 - 9:18amThey have already said they wont be changing the logo on the Collectors sets