This morning, the BBC made an announcement regarding the return of Doctor Who for an eight-episode season, marking the second season to feature Ncuti Gatwa as the titular Time Lord, with the premiere scheduled for April 12. The timing of this announcement is noteworthy, given the current state of the series.
The BBC confirmed the news by releasing two new posters featuring Gatwa’s 15th Doctor and Andor‘s Varada Sethu, who will be joining the series as the newest companion, Belindra Chandra. The posters can be viewed below.
The announcement also included confirmation that Doctor Who will undergo a slight adjustment in its airtime, following changes made in 2024 to coincide with its worldwide debut on Disney+. This year, the show will premiere at 8am on Saturday mornings in the UK, initially launching on the BBC streaming platform iPlayer, before airing on local television later that day. This will be accompanied by a 12am Pacific/3am Eastern launch on Disney+ worldwide.
This adjustment marks a change from the previous controversial decision to launch Doctor Who at midnight UK time to accommodate a 4pm Pacific/7pm Eastern launch in the US and worldwide.
According to showrunner Russell T. Davies, writing in the April 2024 issue of Doctor Who magazine, “You’re not having to change your habits to fit the show; the show is changing to fit you. And it’s adapting to the patterns of modern TV shows, which I believe will soon be the norm.” It appears that the show is willing to be more accommodating to its home audience this time around.
The return of Doctor Who comes at a significant moment for the series, with the April 12 launch occurring just a couple of weeks after the series’ revival celebrates its 20th anniversary. This milestone brings the series closer to matching the duration of its “classic” era, which spanned 26 years from 1963 to 1989. However, the show is also navigating concerning reports about its potential ongoing future, including recent rumors, denied by the BBC, alleging that series star Ncuti Gatwa is preparing to depart the series.
A decision regarding the commission of additional episodes of Doctor Who has yet to be made by the BBC and its partners at Disney. The current deal, which covered the 60th anniversary specials, 2023 Christmas special, 2024’s 8-episode season and Christmas special, and 2025’s season, as well as the upcoming five-episode miniseries War Between Land and Sea, will be reconsidered later this year after assessing ratings for the upcoming season. The show faces challenges amidst changing viewer habits and an attempted shift towards a younger audience.
Without the ability to predict the future, we will have to wait and see how things unfold when Doctor Who returns to the BBC and BBC iPlayer in the UK, and Disney+ worldwide, from April 12.
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