I used to look forward to BBC America's marathons during Christmastime. These usually aired in conjunction with the start of the new season.
I was keeping an eye on the channel listings all through November and December. Nothing. I thought maybe there would be an airing on New Year's Day or early January. Again, nothing.
What happened to the series? Does anyone know if BBC America will ever air it again?
BBC America no longer has the rights to Doctor Who.
Disney bought the distribution rights going forward, so all the new episodes are on Disney+. As for the older episodes (Series 1-13), I'm not sure -- but I think they might be on [HBO] Max now.
The BBC loses the rights to one of its most iconic programs? Unbelievable. Leave it to Disney to destroy a tradition.
Thanks for the information. I don't have HBO nor do I use Disney+ or any streaming service. I consider these to be a waste of money.
Thankfully there is the Internet Archive (https://archive.org/) which has complete seasons, including some reconstructed lost episodes. I'm currently about halfway through the early episodes with the First Doctor (William Hartnell).
Oh, Disney only has distribution rights -- and only outside of the UK. The BBC still produces and owns the show and it still broadcasts the show in Britain.
It's complicated. But BBC America isn't the BBC. It's part-owned by BBC Studios, which is a separate commercial arm of the BBC. So it was licensing Doctor Who from the public broadcast arm (The BBC) in much the same way Disney does now. But Disney has all the money in the world, so they presumably blew BBC America's offer out of the water when the licence renewal came up.
All of Doctor Who (or nearly all of Doctor Who) is on the BBC iPlayer here. You can probably access it with a VPN. You used to be able to, in any case. They may have VPN-recognising tech now. But if you're finding it on archive.org you probably don't need to.
Thank you for the explanation. I didn't realize it was that complex. I'm still not happy with Disney getting its greedy hands on the show, even if it only involves distribution.
I'm not sure if I can access the BBC iPlayer. It sounds like more trouble than it's worth. There are enough episodes on the Internet Archive to keep me busy for years.
Thanks, again.
Nice to see someone watching the Hartnell episodes! 👍
shareI'm glad I found https://archive.org/. Living in the US, the only time one could see Doctor Who was if one of the local PBS stations ran some episodes during one of their "pledge week" fundraisers. I saw a couple of the Tom Baker episodes this way.
Once I got satellite service I was able to watch BBC America, so I've seen quite a few of the episodes beginning with the season starring David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor. I was unable to see Tennant's return as the Fourteenth Doctor... thanks a lot, Disney!
I am enjoying the William Hartnell episodes. Considering the limited budget and time constraints of the era, these programs are impressive. It's a shame so many of them were destroyed.
My favourite Doctor of all was (still is) Jon Pertwee. He was much more physical than Hartnell or Troughton (and just about anyone since). I loved the way he dressed too, with the crushed velvet jacket, the ruffle necked/cuffed shirts. He also had one of the hottest companions (Katy Manning as Jo Grant). So very cool!
shareI'm halfway through Season Three (1965-1966). I've been so busy lately I haven't watched any further episodes for a while. Maybe I will get to the Jon Pertwee era in a few months. I'm looking forward to it.
I'm a fan of the companions, too. I liked Amy Pond and Clara Oswald from the recent seasons. It will be interesting to see others from the early episodes.
Good luck with your viewing!
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shareNow that you mention it I can't remember the last time i've caught an ep of Doctor Who on TV. They still show huge blocks of Star Trek Next Gen for some goofy reason.
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