Posted in: BBC, Disney+, Doctor Who, streaming, TV | Tagged: bbc, david tennant, disney, disney plus, doctor who, Ncuti Gatwa, preview

Doctor Who Deal with "Respectful" Disney "A Fantastic Thing": BBC

BBC Chief Content Officer Charlotte Moore & Head of Drama Commissioning Lindsay Salt offered an update on how thing are going with Disney regarding co-producing Doctor Who.

In three months, a new era of Doctor Who begins when the BBC, Disney+, and Showrunner Russell T. Davies celebrate the long-running show's 60th anniversary with a three-episode event featuring the return of David Tennant (as the Fourteenth Doctor) & Catherine Tate (Donna Noble) – and also starring our Fifteenth Doctor, Ncuti Gatwa. Following that, we have Davies, Gatwa, and Millie Gibson (Ruby Sunday) moving onto the Christmas Special and then Series 14 next year (possibly Spring 2024?). But some of the biggest behind-the-scenes news hit back in October 2022, when we learned that Disney+ would be taking over exclusive rights to the show (outside of the UK & Ireland) beginning this fall – and that The Mouse was also stepping up on the production-investing side, too. The BBC was quick to address concerns when the news was first announced, reaffirming that Davies and the BBC would still maintain creative & overall control – basically, that it was "business as usual" moving forward but with a new partner. Speaking at the Edinburgh TV Festival (where the show picked up "TV Moment of the Year"), BBC Chief Content Officer Charlotte Moore and Head of Drama Commissioning Lindsay Salt offered an update on how the working relationship has been going so far.

"[The anniversary] will be a massive event moment at the BBC. Russell [T. Davies] is at the heart of that show, but, just like any good co-production partner, obviously, you work in a great partnership creatively, but absolutely, the BBC owns the IP for that show and drives the creative," Moore shared, reaffirming the roles discussed late last year. "We've got a great working relationship [with Disney+]. Having that kind of co-production deal at the moment is a fantastic thing for 'Doctor Who.' Audience expectation, young people wanting to feel it is the big global show, is incredibly exciting. Obviously, the UK audience gets exclusivity to watch it on the BBC here. It makes the whole thing incredibly ambitious and creative and really exciting. So it is a great partnership." Salt added, "My experience so far in terms of the co-pro partners, they're hugely respectful to the BBC. They defer to us, check in, and Disney included, on 'Doctor Who.' They're really respectful of the brand that has lasted 60 years. The methodology of 'Doctor Who' is absolutely at the core of British culture. Russell [T. Davies] is the great person to be holding the pen to that."

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