Posted in: BBC, Disney+, Doctor Who, TV | Tagged: bbc, disney, doctor who, Millie Gibson, Ncuti Gatwa, russell t davies, SDCC 2024, The Sarah Jane Adventures, torchwood

BBC Report, Disney Moves Shut Down Doctor Who Doom and Gloom Rumors

Disney helps Doctor Who reassert itself as a pop culture phenomenon at SDCC 2024 while a BBC annual report shows its value to the UK economy.

Doctor Who is making a big splash at San Diego Comic-Con this year, bigger than previously since it now has Disney money behind it. There's a huge booth with merchandise and photo ops, a "Doctor Who Worlds of Wonder: Where Science Meets Fiction" exhibition at the ComicCon Museum as well as the official Doctor Who Podcast, a panel with showrunner Russell T. Davies, Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson, as well as a panel on Science Fiction television series with Davies and Star Trek producer Alex Kurtzman. This is more than just a celebration of the series, of course. Like every other series or project featured at SDCC, it is a branding exercise, a promotion, and a way to keep the series in the public consciousness. It is a push by the BBC and Disney to raise awareness of Doctor Who to get more viewers. It is not about the fear that the series might get cancelled – it is a declaration that the series is here to stay. It is a brand and piece of intellectual property that is too valuable to cancel.

Ever since Davies and the BBC revived Doctor Who in 2005, the series became so popular that it has earned the corporation over £100 million (US$128.69 million) in sales worldwide from licensing, merchandising deals, and broadcast sales annually. The BBC published their annual report this week, and the series was mentioned twenty-one times. "We saw huge audiences for homegrown storytelling across all genres, from Doctor Who and Planet Earth III to Ghosts and The Traitors," it stated.

In a subsection entitled "The Economic Impact of Doctor Who", the report stated that "Production of the hit series contributed an estimated £134.6 million (US$173 million) in GVA (Gross Value Added) to the Welsh economy between 2004 and 2021 and £256 million (US$329.35 million) across the UK overall. Moreover, the report found a significant legacy impact of the show and commissioned spinoffs Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures (both produced in Wales) widely acknowledged as the catalyst for investment in the South Wales creative cluster and its specialism in high-end television and drama production. The Welsh screen sector – now the largest of the five Creative Industry sub-sectors prioritized by the Welsh government, accounted for more than £459 million (US$590.48 million) turnover in 2022."

In short, Doctor Who is a major contributor to the Welsh economy and the British economy. It has been a consistent creator of jobs and, therefore, a steady source of employment, with job postings currently up for crew and personnel to produce the upcoming spinoff The War Between the Land and the Sea that begins production this August. It has provided a training ground for people entering the film and television industry. It doesn't matter how much some people complain about the show for being "woke" now or gloat that it will be cancelled. The series is not going away. The BBC has every incentive to keep producing the series for the foreseeable future since it was already generating earnings before the deal with Disney. Along with the soft power of the series as a cultural import, Doctor Who is here to stay.

Doctor Who is now streaming outside the UK on Disney+.

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