Posted in: Opinion, TV, TV | Tagged: bbc, disney plus, doctor who, russell t davies

Doctor Who: RTD "Hearts" Hate Over Show's Disney+/BBC Return Times

Doctor Who Showrunner Russell T. Davies is so excited about the show's global return - that he's liking comments hating on the return times?

Remember all of that excitement heading into Thursday because there was going to be some big news dropping about Showrunner Russell T. Davies and stars Ncuti Gatwa (Fifteenth Doctor) & Millie Gibson's upcoming new series of Doctor Who adventures? Then the big news dropped, and there was even more excitement – just not the good kind. So here's the deal. Everyone around the world (except Ireland, which continues to get f***ed over) will be getting the series return at the same time – and they will be getting two episodes. Great, right? Except, there's the matter of when it drops.

When BBC iPlayer drops the first two episodes at 00:00 on Saturday, May 11th, Disney+ will also stream those episodes – at 7 pm ET on Friday, May 10th. Meanwhile, BBC One will air the episodes later in the day on May 11th – paired up with the Eurovision Song Contest Grand Final. So while Disney+ subscribers on the U.S. East Coast will be able to stream the premiere episode during the much more comfortable late evening hours, UK fans will be pulling some late-night hours. And that is not going over well…

It didn't take long for the torches & pitchforks to come out as UK fans looked to chase "The Mouse" into the social media town square – because this was "clearly" Disney's fault. Of course, we made our position clear yesterday: when you dance with Disney, Disney doesn't change. Disney changes you. But clearly, the rumblings have been getting louder as this has now become a matter of national honor & pride for UK fans… dare I say, a very polite "line in the sand"? Someone even posted on social media about how this move smacks in the face of license fees/ownership factors – the likes of which are only comparable to how those in the U.S. view The Second Amendment. And to that, I will simply say… you have no idea how deeply gun rights flow through the bloodstream of some very "intense" folks here in "'Murica."

Where does Davies stand in all of this? Well, it's a bit confusing. On one hand, his social media was proudly putting the word out there about when the show would be returning. On the other hand, RTD has also been making a point of liking comments from folks on Instagram who were pushing back on the announced premiere times. So what did RTD know, and when did he know it? By that, we mean that as showrunner, we're assuming he was kept in the loop by the BBC, Julie Gardner & Jane Tranter's Bad Wolf, and Disney regarding rollout. Were there other options considered? Did anyone fight to keep UK fans from having to stay up until midnight? Does Disney have more in its deal than we realize? We have a feeling that we will be hearing much more about this – stay tuned. For now, here's a look at RTD's original post promoting the big Doctor Who announcement…

Here are some examples of posts that RTD liked (based on the tiny RTD head next to the heart for any newbies out there):

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!