DOCTOR WHO May Be Facing The Axe After Just Two Seasons Due To Low Viewership

After last year’s 60th anniversary specials, Doctor Who returned earlier this year with Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson leading the series. Behind the scenes, Russell T Davies – who brought the series back from the dead in 2005 to great success – was appointed showrunner and the BBC made a deal with Disney+ to give the show a big budget overhaul and bring it to its largest audience ever.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to have paid off. Deadline (via SFFGazette.com) has taken a deep dive into Doctor Who‘s performance since it returned to our screens in May with 8 new episodes and claims, “Noises that it may not last beyond its initial two seasons are already reverberating around international TV circles.”

One source close to the production believes “its future hangs in the balance already.” There’s even chatter about the BBC/Disney+ deal not being re-upped after season 2 airs, suggesting Doctor Who will either be scrapped (again) or forced to go back to being a lower-budgeted production with a primarily UK-based audience.

Disney has reportedly had a fair bit of creative input with the new series, though it’s unclear whether that extends to the “woke” themes and casting which is indeed believed to have hurt viewership. Ironically, one of this relaunch’s best episodes tackled the subject of racism, so this is disappointing to hear.

While Disney+ doesn’t disclose viewing figures, the show did reach a high of seventh on the streamer’s list of most in-demand series in the U.S. However, considering its budget and a pricey marketing campaign, viewership figures stateside are deemed “underwhelming” and “okay but not stellar.”

Doctor Who has always had a bigger audience in the UK, of course, but the outlook there isn’t much brighter. Its launch was well behind Jodie Whittaker’s final episode (while she was a fine Doctor, her stint was considered a low point creatively), with the entire series down an average of 1.5 million viewers per episode compared to her time in the TARDIS.

The BBC is said to be happy with streaming numbers on its iPlayer, touting at least 65 million streams in 2024.

“The ratings are a problem,” one source tells the trade. “They can talk all they like about young viewers but they’re still down from the specials and down from the Jodie [Whittaker] series. I imagine serious conversations are happening. Disney will want to see results.”

The House of Mouse is expected to step in once The War Between the Land and the Sea spin-off wraps, and a decision should be made quite quickly. One source believes the season 2 finale has been shot in a way to allow Gatwa to move on from the series, hinting that another creative overhaul might take place.

The prospect of Disney+ parting ways with the BBC and Doctor Who is described as a “disaster” by one source.

Where has it gone wrong for the series? Many fans have taken issue with Davies’ creative decisions and the lack of classic villains. Meanwhile, Gatwa barely being featured in two of the eight episodes (due to scheduling conflicts with Sex Education) also did little to help establish him as the Doctor with newcomers and returning viewers alike.

Only time will tell whether Doctor Who still has a future on our screens, but it’s not looking good.