Disney Still Remains Hopeful About Its Doctor Who Deal

Doctor Who‘s Disney+ era is inactive precise overmuch upon us; it began with the trio of 60th day specials starring David Tennant arsenic the Fourteenth Doctor (who looked not dissimilar the Tenth Doctor) and continued with Ncuti Gatwa’s recently concluded archetypal season arsenic the Fifteenth Doctor. There’s another confirmed Gatwa season connected the way—but what volition hap next, fixed each that speech of high budgets and low ratings? As of close now, it’s unclear… but there’s a glimmer of anticipation to dwell connected today.

Liam Keelan, Disney’s elder vice president of archetypal programming successful Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, made enthusiastic remarks astir Doctor Who portion speaking astatine the Edinburgh TV Festival, Deadline reports.

Though the commercialized notes Keelan did not “commit to renewing the BBC co-production woody beyond adjacent year’s season, which is overseen by showrunner Russell T Davies,” helium did person this to say: “[Doctor Who] is simply a fabulous series. Obviously, successful the UK it’s afloat BBC, rightly so. We instrumentality remainder of satellite rights. But really, truly blessed to person it. I deliberation just, the quirkiness of it, the information that it’s successful that sci-fi satellite and erstwhile you deliberation astir what Disney offers successful different regards, I deliberation it feels similar a truly bully acceptable to me. I mean it’s large to person it.”

It’s wide Keelan isn’t the lone Doctor Who instrumentality astatine Disney these days, either; astatine past month’s San Diego Comic-Con, it was revealed that a caller Doctor Who spin-off, The War Between Land and Sea, is presently successful the works arsenic different BBC-Disney co-production.

In io9’s SDCC reporting, we noted that the five-episode bid volition “follow an planetary situation connected Earth, erstwhile the Sea Devils—the past underwater contention introduced successful the 1972 classical ‘The Sea Devils,’ and astir precocious returned successful the 2022 slightly little classic ‘Legend of the Sea Devils’—emerge from the oceans and uncover themselves to humanity connected a planetary scale. Without the Doctor to help, UNIT steps successful arsenic humanity’s archetypal and past enactment of defense… arsenic warfare rears its head, threatening to plunge the satellite into chaos.”

Written by Davies and Pete McTighe, The War Between Land and Sea volition prima familiar Doctor Who faces Jemma Redgrave arsenic UNIT’s Kate Lethbridge-Stewart and and Alexander Devrient arsenic Colonel Ibrahim, arsenic good arsenic Russell Tovey and Gugu Mbatha-Raw arsenic as-yet unrevealed characters. It’s presently filming, which means it won’t get stateside connected Disney+ for awhile; Doctor Who, however, volition beryllium backmost with much Fifteenth Doctor adventures aboriginal this year, starting with Christmas peculiar “Joy to the World.”

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