The message was meant to excite and<\/em> reassure. Yes, Disney Plus<\/a> would \u2013 from November 2023 \u2013 be the platform on which the rest of the world could watch Doctor Who, but this wasn\u2019t a takeover by the Mouse House, oh no. Doctor Who, to UK viewers, would still be a BBC programme, screened on BBC One, as it has been for the past 59, soon to be 60 years.<\/p>\n Even Charlotte Moore, the BBC\u2019s Chief Content Officer, went out of her way to refer to Doctor Who as \u201cthis very British show\u201d when talking up the deal. \u201cJoining forces with Disney\u2026\u201d she said. \u201c\u2026will elevate the show to even greater heights and reach new audiences so it\u2019s an extremely exciting time for fans in the UK and across the world.\u201d<\/p>\n This, then, is a very different proposition to when George Lucas sold Star Wars to the Walt Disney Company in 2012. Yet the fear then was similar to some of the more hysterical reactions to last week\u2019s Who news, that it would lead to Star Wars\u2019 rougher edges being smoothed out, and that somehow Disney\u2019s parentage would end up \u2018kid-ifying\u2019 Star Wars (not like it was ever Solaris to begin with, mind).<\/p>\n Of course, that never happened. Under Disney\u2019s auspices, we\u2019ve had Rogue One (surely the bleakest Star Wars movie ever), the risk-taking The Last Jedi and the adult-skewed Andor<\/a>. So much for Luke Skywalker suddenly adopting a wisecracking womp rat.<\/p>\n So, let\u2019s be clear, Disney don\u2019t now own Doctor Who. Instead, it\u2019s a deal between the BBC and Disney Branded Television, one that will provide a platform for the series overseas, and one that should, in all likelihood, bring in a lot more dough for the programme.<\/p> \u201cThere\u2019s certainly a lot more hands on the show now one way or another, with the BBC, [production company] Bad Wolf in which Sony has a stake, and Disney all having a seat at the table,\u201d says The Guardian\u2019s Martin Belam. \u201cWhere I think the show will benefit most of all is from a global uniform publicity drive with the heft of Disney Plus behind it.<\/p>\n \u201cIt should simplify the simultaneous launch windows for the show, and see marketing done in a more coherent way than perhaps it was done when the BBC and the production team were dealing with multiple broadcast partners.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think the main benefit of the Disney Plus deal, without wanting to sound too crass, is the increase in budget,\u201d adds Heat magazine\u2019s TV Editor, Boyd Hilton. \u201cDoctor Who has always been a show of big ideas and vast scope but, as brilliantly as recent showrunners and producers have coped with budgetary limitations, the more money they have the less their resources will be visibly stretched.<\/p>\n \u201cSo expect more crowd scenes populated by huge gatherings of extras. Those guys cost money! Doctor Who is the ultimate concept for a sci-fi show and now it can proudly enter the global streaming space where it undoubtedly deserves to be.\u201d<\/p>\n Before Russell T Davies signed on for his second stint as showrunner, he mused about what he might do with the programme<\/a> should he ever be in charge again, and that meant a vast ecosystem of Who-related spinoffs. \u201cThere should be a Doctor Who channel now,\u201d he said. \u201cYou look at those Disney announcements, of all those new Star Wars and Marvel shows, you think, we should be sitting here announcing The Nyssa Adventures or The Return of Donna Noble, and you should have the Tenth and Eleventh Doctors together in a 10-part series.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s looking likely that, if Doctor Who<\/a> is to expand its on-screen universe with a suite of spin-offs (come on, The Nyssa Adventures!), Disney Plus will be the international home for them too, in the way that the streamer is the go-to platform for everything Star Wars and Marvel.<\/p>\n But what of the fears that the series will be neutered in some way because of the House of Mouse\u2019s family-friendly branding, or even, ahem, \u2018American-ised\u2019? In the days after the announcement, memes were cropping up everywhere, most in jest it must be said, such as the one that depicted Mickey Mouse\u2019s head\u2019s silhouette as part of the new Doctor Who logo.<\/p>\n I quite like the new old #DoctorWho<\/a> logo, to be honest. It’s timeless. pic.twitter.com\/zumkZ2ioqT<\/a><\/p>\u2014 Paul Burley (@paulsgubbins) October 25, 2022<\/a><\/blockquote>![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2022\/10\/404254-15d5c87.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
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