The BBC might be sweeping for Doctor Who after its recent cancellation and Disney pulling out of the partnership because of low ratings, but a former Disney executive and other Disney insiders spilled to the media exactly what we’ve been saying since the beginning: that the show was a ratings disaster hated by the fanbase.
Over the last decade, corporate goons have infiltrated entertainment, trying to remake properties in their own image. They know they can’t make their own social justice-infused shows and get any attention, so they latch onto large brands and twist them to their means. We’ve seen this phenomenon with The Lord Of The Rings: Rings of Power, Star Trek, Star Wars, and, of course, Doctor Who. With each of these, it ends with low ratings.
This week, the BBC came out with the news that the Disney partnership is officially over, having lasted 26 episodes in total, five of which will be dedicated to the spinoff, The War Between The Land And The Sea. It’s one of the shortest runs in Doctor Who history save for the 1980s movie reboot of the eighth Doctor, and it’s obvious a lot went wrong.
Though they tried to couple this with an announcement of a 2026 Christmas Special penned by Russell T. Davies, the architect of modern Doctor Who, fans noticed the news and weren’t swayed by the prospect of something new coming from the same creative teams.
In an interview with Deadline, a former executive said, “It was pretty apparent from early on that this wasn’t for the long term. Everyone got the impression that it wasn’t doing what it needed to do [on Disney+] to be sustained.”
Another person told Deadline, “The writing has been on the wall for ages. There has been a complete lack of enthusiasm over at Disney.”
While the show’s budget has been in dispute, Doctor Who was very costly for Disney, ranging between $6 million and $13 million per episode, according to different sources. With ratings at their worst in history, these figures were not justifying the expense whatsoever. Fandom Pulse reported at the end of season 1 that Disney executives were not happy with the returns and that rumblings of cancellation were already occurring.
One Disney exec blamed a lack of marketing for its failure, though it was pretty clear the content was the problem. “It certainly wasn’t being shouted about as a big success,” he said.
One Disney exec said it was “too woke for Trump’s USA,” and this was “a factor in Disney's minds.” Even though these people blame Trump, Ncuti Gatwa Doctor Who was premiering far before Trump was elected and touted well before that. Wokeism was never popular, whether Trump was in the picture or not, and many of these entertainment companies vastly overestimated the appeal of turning hard left.
Since the BBC announced the Christmas special, speculation is already rampant about what the budget will be. There’s no way the company can put up the numbers Disney did for a production, but inside sources know that a drop off might cause even more trouble.
“Once you’ve gone up, it’s always difficult to go back down,” the source says. “You can cut budgets to a certain degree, but not by so much. Is the BBC really going to stump up even more for something showing decline?”
The BBC, meanwhile, is still seeking American partners for further investment, though inside sources believe that finding one will be difficult as well.
What do you attribute the decline of Doctor Who to?
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One Disney exec said it was “too woke for Trump’s USA,” and this was “a factor in Disney's minds.”
That's not the truth and it's a cop-out.
If you took an old episode of Dr. Who, Let's say from when Tom Baker was the doc, and put it up against any modern episode, the people would rave about Baker's episode.
Each of those old episodes were only only a little over 45 minutes run time, but they were well written and action packed. They didn't try to push lgbt+ nonsense down people's throats.
I watched all the old Dr. Who's in the 80's, on KERA, Dallas' local PBS station. I stayed up late to watch those, because they were good.
I couldn't even gather the interest to watch a modern Dr. Who. I tried, but once they turned the doc into a feminist spouting woman, I gave up.
I even sat through all the peter capaldi episodes, because despite the flaws, the writing was still true to the story.
I refer to the timeless wisdom of Cartman: First they put a woman in it, then they made it fake and ghey.