Entertainment giants BBC and Disney Branded Television have joined forces to revamp Doctor Who into a global franchise.
While the show will still be broadcast by the BBC in the United Kingdom and Ireland, it will be streamed to the rest of the world by Disney+. The announcement was made this week by the next Doctor, Rwandan-Scottish actor Ncuti Gatwa, during an appearance on the TV show Live with Kelly and Ryan.
Returning showrunner Russell T Davies, who was responsible for Doctor Who‘s revival in 2005 and is credited with propelling the show into one of TV’s biggest hits, takes control of the TARDIS (Time and Relative Dimensions in Space), the policebox-shaped time machine. The show will be produced in Wales by Bad Wolf with BBC Studios Production, and the new episodes will premiere on the BBC and Disney+ beginning in November 2023.
“I love this show, and this is the best of both worlds,” says Davies. “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.”
The new episodes of Doctor Who will coincide with the 60th anniversary of the show. 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.
