Posted in: BBC, Disney+, TV | Tagged: christmas, doctor who

Doctor Who: RTD Okay If Streaming "Bubble" Pops (Don't Tell Disney+)

BBC and Disney+'s Doctor Who Showrunner Russell T. Davies has some interesting thoughts to share about the future of streaming and television.

Our first takeaway from the official trailer for Showrunner Russell T. Davies' Ncuti Gatwa (Fifteenth Doctor) and Nicola Coughlan-starring Doctor Who Christmas Special, "Joy to the World" (though we now have a better understanding of why it was also being called "Joy to the Worlds") – aside from there being two Fifteenth Doctors? That was one damn good-looking trailer – with visuals bordering on The Fifth Element. One of the reasons why that's possible has to do with Disney+ coming aboard to help produce the series – with "The Mouse's" money taking the long-running series to the next level in terms of effects and its overall production (and "The Mouse" getting a large chunk of exclusive streaming cheese in the process).

Lately, there have been rumblings about how secure the relationship is between the BBC and Bad Wolf Productions, and Disney in terms of a third season – with many wondering why Season 3 hadn't been confirmed yet (though there have been some rumblings on that, too) and concerned over a lot of comments that kinda sound promising. So when Davies says during an interview with BBC's Today that "streamers are heading for a South Sea bubble," we get a little concerned. Because… you know… Disney+ is a streamer. Especially when he notes that in terms of the future of television, Davies "kind of hopes it does pop."

"There are too many streamers, too much money, and not everyone is watching, so it can't be financially viable," Davies explained, adding that he would to see a return a time of "making 8 p.m. dramas about lawyers or health centers, or shows that teach people how to make television." The showrunner would go on to cite an example of how he finally had a chance to have 200 extras – only to view the opening episode of Peacock and Sky's The Day of the Jackal and see something like 500 extras ("I just think, 'How do you keep up with this?'"). And while he appreciates Disney being able to help the series "look like 'Stranger Things,'" Davies added that Doctor Who "would have found a different shape, a different form." Just as long as we don't go back to the days of styrofoam rocks and really bad physical acting while trying to make them look heavy.

Doctor Who Christmas Special: "Joy to the World" (Official Overview)

Along with Gatwa and Coughlan, the special also stars Steph de Whalley as Anita, Jonathan Aris as Melnak, Joel Fry as Trev, Peter Benedict as Basil, Julia Watson as Hilda, and Niamh Marie Smith as Sylvia. Produced by Bad Wolf with BBC Studios for the BBC and Disney Branded Television and set to hit Disney+, BBC One, and BBC iPlayer on Christmas Day, here's a look at the overview released in the BBC's holiday rundown:

Ham and cheese toastie and a pumpkin latte? The Doctor, played by Ncuti Gatwa, returns this Christmas for a time-hopping trip through the history of Earth.

The episode introduces Joy, starring Nicola Coughlan (Bridgerton, Derry Girls), who checks into a London hotel in 2024, only to discover that her quiet stay is anything but ordinary. When Joy opens a secret doorway to the Time Hotel, she discovers danger, dinosaurs and the Doctor. But a deadly plan is unfolding across the Earth, just in time for Christmas.

Where has the Doctor been? What is going on in Joy's hotel room? An old enemy of the Doctor's is lurking in the wings, and all of human history hangs in the balance. Can the Doctor save Christmas – everywhere, all at once?

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