The Fight for Doctor Who‘s Future Begins on April 12

This morning, the BBC announced that Doctor Who will return for an eight-episode season–the second to star Ncuti Gatwa as the titular Time Lord–from April 12. The timing, for a time traveller, is quite interesting: because the news comes at a very interesting crossroads for the venerable series.

The BBC confirmed the news with two new posters of Gatwa’s 15th Doctor, and Andor‘s Varada Sethu, who joins the series as its latest companion Belindra Chandra. Check them out below!

The news also came alongside confirmation that Doctor Who will receive a slightly adjusted airtime after its changes in 2024 to align with a worldwide debut on Disney+. This year, Who will broadcast debut at 8am Saturday mornings in the UK, launching on the BBC streaming platform iPlayer, before airing on local television later that day, coinciding with a 12am Pacific/3am Eastern launch on Disney+ around the world. That marks a slight change to the controversial decision last year to have Doctor Who effectively launch at midnight UK time to account for a 4pm Pacific/7pm Eastern launch the day prior in the US and around the world.

“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,” showrunner Russell T. Davies wrote of in the April 2024 issue of Doctor Who magazine last year about the change (via Doctor Who TV). “This is the future, and it’s already here.” It would seem that the show is, at least, willing to be a little more accommodating of its home audience this time around.

Doctor Who‘s return also comes at an important moment for the series. The April 12 launch is just a couple of weeks after the series’ revival celebrates its 20th anniversary, a major milestone for the series that brings it even closer to matching the series’ “classic” era, which ran for 26 from 1963 through to 1989. But it also comes as the show weathers increasingly concerning reports about its potential ongoing future, including recent rumors, denied by the BBC that alleged series star Ncuti Gatwa was already preparing to depart the series.

A decision has still yet to be made by the BBC, and its partners on the show at Disney, about whether or not to commission more episodes of Doctor Who. Its current deal–which covered the trio of 60th anniversary specials and 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 seeing ratings for the upcoming season, and the show faces a tough battle amid changing viewer habits and an attempted shift towards a younger audience.

Without a TARDIS ourselves, we’ll have to see how things start playing out when Doctor Who returns to the BBC and BBC iPlayer in the UK, and Disney+ worldwide, from April 12.

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