Posted in: BBC, Current News, Disney+, Opinion, TV, TV | Tagged: doctor who, opinion

Doctor Who-Dunit? Blame Game Begins: BBC, Disney, Trump/MAGA & More

The Doctor Who "blame game" is underway, with a new report blaming everyone from the BBC and Disney to Ncuti Gatwa, Trump/MAGA, and more.

To be honest, we're surprised it took this long. Earlier this week, the news came down that the BBC and Bad Wolf had parted ways with Disney. In addition, it was announced that the long-running series would return in a 2026 Christmas Special written by Showrunner Russell T. Davies. Now, we've reached the finger-pointing stage in the break-up – and that came in the form of a behind-the-scenes report from Deadline Hollywood that went live earlier today. From our perspective, the piece vibes like a lot of folks (mostly preferring to go unnamed) rushing to get their spin out there before anyone else can. The result? A piece that pretty much blames everyone, from the BBC, Bad Wolf, and Disney, to Davies, Fifteenth Doctor Ncuti Gatwa, Donald Trump/MAGA folks, and an aging, rigid fanbase that may just be smothering the franchise's chances of welcoming new viewers. That's not an easy thing when you're trying to force 60+ years of canon down their throats. That said, there were some interesting things that stuck out to us that we wanted to pass along:

Big Money/Big Budget Problems: When Disney entered the Doctor Who game, it did so at probably the worst time for the BBC. After spending a lot of time and a lot of money to show Netflix they could be Netflix, too (and failing), Disney and a lot of other studios had to limp back and lick their wounds. They did that through massive layoffs and serious budget slashing – with Disney CEO Bob Iger laying down the law that "The Mouse" will be scaling back the number of films and series it produces, and the amount it spends on them. If the show's budget was "between £6M ($8.5M) and £8M per episode… putting the value of the deal at as much as £168M," as was reported in the piece, it would be easy to see why the show would be on "The Mouse's" chopping block.

One source (a former Disney executive, so take it for what it's worth) estimates that the BBC will top out at £2.5M to £3M per episode moving forward, assuming another production partner isn't brought aboard. That would put the budget at approximately half of what it was during the Disney run, with "around £1M per episode from the BBC's own pocket and any additional coming from a BBC Studios distribution advance." The report also noted that before the BBC/Disney deal, "an alternative option was presented to then-BBC drama boss Piers Wenger, which would have raised up to £5M an episode without input from a big American player."

Ratings Rumblings: The report notes that the franchise's streaming and viewing numbers on both sides of the pond were less than legendary. The official UK ratings agency Barb clocked Season 15's average viewers at 3.8 million, a drop of approximately one million viewers from the previous season. Seasons 14 and 15 clocked in lower than the viewing figures for Fourteenth Doctor Jodie Whittaker's final run (which averaged 5.2 million viewers). An important thing to keep in mind is that getting serious data on how shows are doing streaming-wise is about as easy as stumbling upon The Holy Grail at a flea market, which only adds to the blame game going on.

Don't Blame Ncuti Gatwa: Gatwa began his run while wrapping up Netflix's hit series Sex Education, not an easy task when you're taking on a role like the Doctor. Add to that the pressures that come from being the first Black actor to tackle the role full-time (like dealing with racist, gate-keeping "fans" who can't process anyone who isn't an old, white dude in the lead role), and you can easily make the argument that Gatwa's began his run in a way that previous Doctors such as David Tennant and Matt Smith couldn't appreciate. Still, he was out there pushing the show and running through the press "car wash" every chance he got – but (according to a 'Doctor Who' source, so, again, take it for what it's worth), Gatwa wasn't doing enough. There is more to that role than performing. You have got to be an ambassador for the brand and embrace being that generation's Doctor. Matt Smith and David Tennant fully understood the responsibility it carried," the source said (sounding a bit too caught up in the nostalgia Kool-Aid).

Was Trump/MAGA a Factor? Given how Disney has taken a knee for Trump and his MAGA clan in the past, this is way more believable than it should be. A source in DDH's reporting claims that the series became "too woke for Trump's USA" and that was "a factor in Disney minds" when it came time to decide on the future of the deal. This is the same Disney that pulled a transgender character from Pixar's first original animated series, Win or Lose. You know, the same Disney that pulled Jimmy Kimmel's late-night talk show off the air over threats from FCC chair Brendan Carr? The long-running series has always embraced the idea of accepting and embracing our differences, and giving everyone representation through the show, especially the LGBTQ community. Sadly, those aren't the kind of concepts and ideals appreciated and respected under Trump's rule, with Trump and the MAGA clan having targeted the company in the past for what they alleged were the company's "woke practices."

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