10 HUGE Revelations About Disney Doctor Who In Russell T Davies' New Memoir

9. Disney Knew NOTHING About Doctor Who

When it was announced that Disney had partnered with the BBC to make Doctor Who, there were some concerns from fans about whether it was still going to be the same show.

And perhaps those concerns were warranted because as it turns out, Disney didn’t know the slightest thing about Doctor Who. Which is exactly what you want from a company you’re about to give joint-creative control to!

Even after Disney signed up, they remained none the wiser, failing to familiarise themselves with the show’s past.

Now sure you wouldn’t expect a bunch of American execs to know about Mavic Chen or the Myrka, but at the very least you’d expect them to know the basics. Like, you know, the Weeping Angels.

But again, nope.

So RTD sent them a copy of Blink, as he explains in the book:

"They went away and watched it and came back saying, 'Hey, great episode!' I thought, yes, but... how have you bought Doctor Who without watching Blink?!"

It's clear now that Disney trusted in the popularity and history of Doctor Who, and also RTD's impressive pedigree with the show, rather than them being confident in the show directly.

For all the talk of the BBC having learned lessons from the Disney deal, maybe Disney has learned one in reverse – don't invest so heavily in a show you know nothing about!