It’s been to the ends of the universe and survived man-eating slugs, murderous statues and the bubonic plague, but Doctor Who may have never faced a challenge quite so gruelling as the year 2025. Back in May, Ncuti Gatwa, the 15th Doctor, announced he was stepping down from the long-running sci-fi show after just two years – the shortest tenure for any Time Lord since Christopher “one-and-done” Eccleston. This week, it was confirmed that Disney’s deal with the BBC to co-produce new seasons of Doctor Who is also ending.
The Disney deal had proved a controversial talking point among the Who faithful; the idea was that a cash injection from a US streaming service would boost the show’s audience, shore up its finances and secure its future. But disastrously low viewing figures mean that both the Beeb and Disney will have failed to recoup their investment. For a show about a figure who can regenerate, it feels ironic that Doctor Who is once again having to transform in order to endure.
