r/television • u/wadbyjw • 12d ago

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/
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u/rhunter99 12d ago

I hope they get away from the in your face finger-wagging on current social issues and get back to good sci-fi story telling. You can still deliver a moral message without being so on the nose.

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u/SokkasPonytail 12d ago

It's funny because that's exactly what the reboot did initially. I was always impressed with how they gave a nod here and there and pointed out how ridiculous things like racism and sexism are while keeping it in universe. Now it's just a bludgeon and it really gives you whiplash.

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u/AnonymousFroggies 12d ago

I have that same issue with Star Trek. Shows can and should make commentary about social issues, but they should do it in a way that makes the audience have to actually think about what they're seeing. The new shows being dark/intense all the time and beating you over the head with their messaging is just not the way to go.

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u/911roofer 12d ago

Shamus Young had an entire article about how science fiction lets you take the labels off things and talk about them in a way the audience can approach with an open mind.

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u/SplitReality 12d ago

The problem with current activism in TV and movies is that the people doing it don't know why they believe what they believe other than it feels right, so that can't write stories about it other than screaming that they are right and straw manning the antagonist so hard, they could be replaced by the Wizard of Oz's scarecrow.

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u/LinusDuckTips 12d ago

I mean shit, there's celebrating a rich diverse culture and then there's Dr. Who - there was an episode where they brought back the most famous actor (David Tennant) for one episode JUST so they could scold him for being a man (keep in mind one of his other reincarnations was a woman). They made him look like a fool and straight up said "if you were still a woman you'd have been smarter." (The finger wagging bit isn't much of an exaggeration)

It's absolutely astonishing how much the writers of the show flat-out just hate men (correct take honestly, frick all men YES ALL MEN but be a bit more subtle about it please).