Doctor Who’s New Premiere Date Proves the Show Has Been Conquered by American Fans
Welcome to Season 14. Which is also Season 1. Which is also...
Doctor Who has a brand new Tardis and a brand new home: Disney+, where the 60th anniversary specials were made available to stream outside the United Kingdom. While this new deal means better production quality and an easy way to watch the series, it also made following Doctor Who even more confusing. This spring, the 14th season of the show’s 2005 reboot is supposed to premiere. But if you pull it up on Disney+, it will be listed as “Season 1.”
This new season’s premiere date has been announced, and it’s only adding to the shakeup. Season 1, née 14, will shift how Doctor Who is released to fans.
According to Variety, the new season of Doctor Who will premiere on May 10 with two episodes on Disney+ in the US and worldwide (except in the UK) at 4:00 pm PST/7:00 pm EST. The UK release will be simultaneous, with both episodes available on BBC iPlayer at midnight GMT on May 11.
The new season of Doctor Who will follow the latest Doctor and his new companion, Ruby Sunday.
Modern Doctor Who has never done a two-part premiere in its almost 20-year history. However, Ncuti Gatwa’s Fifteenth Doctor was introduced in the Christmas Special, which is usually the domain of a season premiere episode. With that plot point already out of the way, this new season can kick off with a two-part story. Original showrunner Russell T. Davies may be back at the helm, but Doctor Who is still finding ways to keep things fresh.
The new season’s release time is also surprising. Doctor Who’s 60th Anniversary and Christmas specials premiered at 8:00 pm in the UK, and dropped in the afternoon for American viewers. With the new release time lining up with American primetime, it looks like the show is focusing more on its global popularity than the country where it originated back in 1963.
As expected from Doctor Who, the Doctor and Ruby will travel throughout the past and future.
While this is great for international fans, it does mean the loss of a television tradition. Doctor Who has always been a family show, and gathering around the TV to watch new episodes together has been a practice in British homes for decades. With this new release time, fans will either have to stay up until midnight or stream whenever they feel like it the next day. Streaming is certainly more convenient, but the experience isn’t quite the same.
With this new premiere strategy, Doctor Who is no longer a British show being shown to the world, but a full-blown international phenomenon. Now let’s hope its new double-length adventure lives up to the standard that’s been set for it.
