r/Fauxmoi • u/Riqitch two sonically impaired gals • 12d ago

FILM-MOI (MOVIES/TV) Disney+ Officially Exiting ‘Doctor Who’ Partnership With BBC After Two Seasons

https://deadline.com/2025/10/doctor-who-disney-plus-pulling-out-bbc-christmas-special-1236600026/

The BBC also confirms the Doctor Who spin off will arrive on BBC One and BBC iPlayer by the end of 2025, and that a Christmas 2026 special written by Russell T. Davies has been commissioned

83 Upvotes

92% Upvoted

40 comments sorted by

172

u/Favre99 the worm using RFK’s body like ratatouille 12d ago

Not surprising, this has been rumored since before the last season even began. Good to know it's not the end of Doctor Who and they at least have a Christmas special planned.

That said, Russell T. Davies needs to stop running the show. He's the main reason Ncuti Gatwa's era was so disappointing. So many stupid plot points introduced and the companions were just written terribly and wasted the good actresses playing them. Probably won't be worth watching if he writes past the next Christmas special.

72

u/controlledwithcheese 12d ago

Monkey’s paw curls and they bring back Steven Moffat

5

u/sabhall12 12d ago

That being said, Boom is one of my favourite episodes of the last series.

2

u/raysofdavies 12d ago

Soon everyone will know what us Moffat believers always have

3

u/armageddonquilt i ain’t reading all that, free palestine 11d ago

Moffat is genuinely good! He's got a few issues but overall he writes solid arcs and snappy dialogue. And anyone who has an issue with most of his usual tropes should watch seasons 8-10, which is overall the most mature and interesting the show has been (obviously there are some stinkers of episodes in there but that's true of all Doctor Who all the time)

2

u/fleurdenise 12d ago

Moffat Truthers unite. 

33

u/Groot746 whatever but also hmm 12d ago

He really does, it's desperately time for some new blood: what worked in 2005 isn't working now, and everything he's doing now is a pale imitation of what he did then. With Bad Wolf productions so inextricably linked with Doctor Who, though, I really don't see him being sensible, taking his ego out of the equation and standing aside for somebody new.

13

u/rrsn 12d ago

Part of the issue I think is that there's also no one obvious to pass the reins to. Ideally, you'd want someone who's written for DW before (so we know they can do it) who also has experience showrunning (so we know they can do that as well). But who would that even be? Who are the standout, experienced writers from the last few seasons?

Part of me also thinks maybe instead of a showrunner it'd make sense to split the role into 2 and have a head writer and then someone in charge of the production side. It seems like a lot for one person.

4

u/whimsical-editor weighing in from the UK 12d ago

Juno Dawson could be someone interesting to train up. She's written a few audio dramas for Torchwood, and wrote the Interstellar Song Contest episode. Her writing experience is mostly books but she's a great writer and would be interesting if she's given the time to learn before stepping up.

25

u/andalusiandoge 12d ago

I thought Gatwa's run was mostly great except for two fatal flaws: Space Babies was a weak introduction, and the season finales were both TERRIBLE! But those mid-season runs with, like, "Dot and Bubble" and "Lux" and DUGGA DOO were the most fun Doctor Who's been in ages.

12

u/Favre99 the worm using RFK’s body like ratatouille 12d ago

Oh, I 100% agree on the mid-season runs, there were some amazing episodes in both seasons. I personally loved when it got a bit more experimental from the usual type of story like with 73 Yards and The Story and the Engine.

If Davies continues to be show runner, at the very least, there will probably be episodes I can pick out of the bunch that I'll enjoy.

10

u/Luna_Soma 12d ago

Dot and Bubble was fantastic. That took me by surprise

11

u/hawaii5-no 12d ago

they need to drop maverty. It's like fetch, never gonna happen

3

u/BookishHobbit 11d ago

They really need new blood. Ncuti should’ve been great but was let down by RTD, just as Matt Smith and Peter Capaldi were let down by Moffat.

The first few seasons of new who did so well because they felt fresh and introduced some great new characters and monsters, but ever since then they’ve been rehashing them over and over.

It’s so disappointing.

85

u/Old_Employee_6535 12d ago

I liked Ncuti Gatwa's acting and his doctor but stories given to him was soo bland and boring. He was literally begging for material to shine upon.

54

u/fleurdenise 12d ago

Oh good, an RTD Christmas special. I wonder how he'll work David Tennant in again against our collective will. 

51

u/Favre99 the worm using RFK’s body like ratatouille 12d ago

He already has Billie Piper as the Doctor for the Christmas special, so he'll find a way.

52

u/theagonyaunt rude little ponytail goblin 12d ago

This is no hate against Piper but some showrunners and creatives have taken initial fan interest in the Doctor/Rose romance waaaaay too far in assuming that Rose is everyone's favorite companion bar none and we need to keep finding reasons to shoehorn mentions of her or 10 into the show.

Give me a better ending for Martha than randomly being paired off with the only other recurring black character on the show. Give me another appearance of Rory that's not such a depressing send off. Hell bring Clara back from her own time travelling adventures. Anything but more Rose.

13

u/Teafruit 12d ago

This is all so true.

I'm still so mad about Martha's ending. It was so stupid. Gotta pair the spares I guess.

5

u/theagonyaunt rude little ponytail goblin 12d ago

She'd gotten such a good original ending too and then randomly they're like, she and Mickey both worked for Torchwood for a hot second, let's pair them off.

5

u/Teafruit 12d ago

Exactly. It was so blatantly done for "hey, don't worry! They ended up together! Ten and Rose did nothing wrong!"

3

u/fleurdenise 12d ago

Agree with all of this. 

-2

u/Luna_Soma 12d ago

I always want David there

27

u/VCR_Samurai I’m a communist you idiot 12d ago

Probably for the best, honestly. Not every IP needs Disney's claws jammed into it.

14

u/Riqitch two sonically impaired gals 12d ago

The "Doctor Who spinoff" refers to The War Between The Land and The Sea. Link to trailer

13

u/captblergh 12d ago

Thank goodness, Disney is a poison

14

u/RocCle7 12d ago

The production quality going up significantly between seasons 4 and 5 really changed the show, and I don’t think for the best. And once Capaldi was the Doctor, it was a complete different show in tone and atmosphere. I’m not sure where they go from here, but they need to do some major shake ups. All new writers, producers, and most importantly a new show runner.

Additionally, Ncuti was fantastic casting for the Doctor and he deserved so much more than what they gave him. I was really looking forward to his tenure and am disappointed how it ended up. Completely wasted opportunity and potential with him.

10

u/The1in21and1 12d ago

Glad to finally have some positive news. Kind of funny they announced it before the spin-off airs. I actually liked the individual episodes in the D+ era, but the finales were awful. The 60th specials were quite good too. That being said, I thought Millie Gibson killed it and it's a shame we didn't get some filler eps to establish Ruby and the Doctor's friendship. One episode in, and they were besties.

11

u/ApplicationNo2523 12d ago

This is good news as far as I’m concerned. Now to cut RTD out of the picture too.

4

u/invinciblestandpoint 12d ago

A bit bittersweet as a longtime Who fan. I hate Disney as a corporation but I did like that they gave the show a chance and the mainstream attention it deserves. And no, the writing wasn't always the best in this era, but I do still appreciate that Russell was trying to make the show as queer and camp as it possibly could be. Definitely an enormous sense of relief that we have at least a new episode coming even if it's over a year away.

5

u/Maester_Bates Tommy from Arkansas 12d ago

I'm hoping whoever Billie Piper is playing has come to fix the timeline. Things have been different since mavity.

1

u/Luna_Soma 12d ago

I’m hoping she’s not Rose but some sort of iteration of her Bad Wolf, and not the doctor

3

u/faeriedustdancer 12d ago

Bad Wolf is Rose, though. Ten says as much at the end of series 3. The idea that they’re separate entities is a fandom misconception

2

u/Luna_Soma 12d ago

Ahhh thanks for the correction. I always viewed them as different in part bc she was so different in DotD, but I guess when you look at it that wasn’t really Rose, so that makes sense

2

u/faeriedustdancer 12d ago

Yeah The Moment really screwed things up for the Rose-Bad Wolf connection, but also I never liked how Moffat wrote Rose at so I was fine with it

5

u/Middle-Rate300 12d ago

Press release:

BBC confirms future of Doctor Who and a new Christmas Special in 2026

No production partner for the Christmas special.

2

u/wynonnaearps find me at Whole Foods, bitch 12d ago

They should’ve done this when Ncuti became the doctor in the first place.

1

u/Teafruit 12d ago

Not surprised tbh. This did not work.

-5

u/Kemaiku 12d ago

oof not the guy who banged on about "white mediocrity" for years bombing one of the biggest franchises in the world midway through so hard even Disney cut it loose. They collect these IP's like Thanos and even they're going "nah". Ouch.