The CRAZY History Of Doctor Who And Disney

Decades after they first attempted to acquire the rights to Doctor Who's library, Disney finally became the international distributor of the show in 2022, which almost feels like ancient history at this point, doesn't it?

The announcement was made alongside various public appearances from Ncuti Gatwa, who featured on American talk show Live with Kelly and Ryan to discuss his casting as the Fifteenth Doctor.

Gatwa's morning TV appearance was followed by a joint BBC and Disney statement in which they affirmed their desire to turn Doctor Who into a global franchise. While the jury's still out on that, the BBC/Disney merger fundamentally changed Doctor Who for the streaming landscape.

While some of these changes (like the midnight releases of new episodes) were met with criticism from UK-based fans who felt they'd been short-changed, the show did benefit from a big marketing push. It's unclear whether this push paid off in terms of streams on Disney+, and RTD has recently stated that Disney is making no decision about a Season 3 greenlight until after Season 2 airs, seemingly delaying production on a new batch of episodes that the BBC and Bad Wolf are themselves eager to make.

Still, after so many years of near misses, the Doctor Who/Disney partnership could very well extend past Season 2, and the upcoming spinoff The War Between the Land and the Sea. A TARDIS theme park ride could be a boon for everyone involved – as would Disney getting its hands on some Doctor Who merch to flog around the world.

But for now, roll on Christmas!