Doctor Disney?

According to the business and finance-focussed news channel Bloomberg, Disney are in talks with the BBC regarding the streaming rights to new Doctor Who. These discussions are at an early stage and so nothing may come of them. The BBC still own Doctor Who as a property, with Bad Wolf actually producing it, so they would also be involved in any such talks. This is all to do with new Doctor Who - not the streaming of archive materials. However, were the series to go to Disney+, they might want to have the rights to stream the old stuff as well.

In the UK viewers would still see new episodes broadcast on the BBC as now, but the same might not be the case overseas.

That Disney are interested in new episodes suggests that there are going to be enough to make it worth their while. There has been talk for some time of RTD wanting to initiate a "Doctor Who Universe", with spin-offs from the main show. We could see a DWU sitting alongside the Marvel and Star Wars franchises.

It has been suggested that Disney money could benefit the series in terms of budgets for VFX, but also as a potential picker-up of the costs of doing the animations of lost stories. The current releases came to an end with The Abominable Snowmen after BBC America withdrew funding for these, but perhaps Disney might agree to contribute instead.

One cause for concern is the possible loss of physical media. None of the Star Wars streaming series, and only a few of the Marvel ones, have been given a physical release on DVD or Blu-ray.

Another concern would obviously be potential "editorial influence" by the House of Mouse, but I suspect that RTD would retain final say. Looking only at the Star Wars series currently on Disney+, they represent a broad church in terms of target audience, so anything can be accommodated.

That this is even being talked about is good news for the series' future - indicating that people who matter believe it actually has one.

PS: it's also being rumoured today that Steven Moffat might be up for writing for the series again. A lot of people did not want to hear this, citing interminable story arcs, but it has been pointed out that his stand-alone stories were pretty much his best work. Some are joking that he will take over from RTD again in a couple of years, and then be replaced himself by Chibnall again. I wouldn't say that the latter part of the joke is remotely funny...