Doctor Who‘s future suddenly looks a lot more exciting, with the world’s longest-running sci-fi TV show heading to a new streamer in the US. The BBC’s Disney partnership failed to draw in viewers, and the relationship collapsed. Since then, although BBC execs have stressed their commitment to Doctor Who, we’ve had no news of the show’s future. The BBC is currently in a very difficult financial position, and there have been rumors of new partnerships with AMC and Sony to get the next seasons made – even of a potential Doctor Who reboot.
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According to AMC, Doctor Who will be officially returning to AMC+ from June 11. The news was initially announced on an old Twitter account that had been dormant since the show left for Disney+.
AMC has confirmed that this will include 13 seasons and 176 episodes (including specials). Importantly, this means AMC+ will not have the episodes made during the Disney+ partnership. It’s reasonable to assume Disney will retain the distribution rights for those episodes, and presumably for the spinoff The War Between the Land and the Sea – which still hasn’t released on Disney+.
How Does This Fit In With Recent Doctor Who Reports?
At the end of April, the Doctor Who fandom was excited by what may well have been a leak; a draft press release detailing a new Doctor Who co-production deal between the BBC, AMC, and Sony. While the idea was exciting, it did use the word “reboot” in reference to the show – one that left fans deeply concerned. This draft press release claimed an announcement would be made on May 11, which didn’t happen, so most had dismissed the leak. But this new AMC announcement suddenly makes it seem a lot more likely. The BBC is certainly working with AMC again when it comes to Doctor Who.
AMC+ will only have the first 13 seasons, but not the Disney+ specials and Ncuti Gatwa run. It’s disappointing, given that means the 60th anniversary specials (featuring David Tennant’s return) will be absent. But it also gives another reason why a reboot would potentially be attractive. The Disney+ era ended on something of a cliffhanger, meaning Russell T. Davies’ upcoming Christmas Special has to pick up from that. There will be a notable gap in the timeline, meaning the overall narrative will feel incomplete. That would make a reboot quite tempting.
For now, it’s probably still best not to assume that purported leak was genuine. Doctor Who‘s return to AMC+ is good news in any case, simply because it confirms there is indeed still interest in the franchise, and that AMC+ is willing to commit to distributing the show. Only time will tell whether there’s even more to this partnership than has yet been announced.
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