It was recently revealed that, outside of the UK, Doctor Who will soon call Disney+ its home. That's exciting news for fans of the iconic sci-fi franchise, and it appears BBC's new streaming partner will be giving the show a record-breaking budget increase.
According to Broadcast (via SFFGazette.com), while recent seasons have featured episodes with budgets ranging from $1.1 million to $3.4 million, that's about to increase to around $11.5 million. While the specials starring David Tennant have already been shot, it sounds like all the stops are being pulled out for season 14 starring Ncuti Gatwa (which starts shooting this month).
As a result, Doctor Who will soon become the BBC's most expensive TV series ever, topping His Dark Materials. That cost around $7 million per episode and between $40 million - $50 million for a season, whereas this show looks set to top $100 million.
Doctor Who now has a budget on par with the likes of The Mandalorian and Obi-Wan Kenobi, suggesting it will receive a significant upgrade. Even so, it's a long way off from shows like House of the Dragon ($20 million per episode), The Lord: of the Rings: The Rings of Power ($50 million - $80 million per episode), and Stranger Things ($30 million per episode).
"The BBC had to make the decision for the future success of Doctor Who because any show of scale needs a partner," one anonymous source told the site. "Reliability is the most important factor irrespective of how many episodes you make or who the Doctor is."
"If you can bring in a single partner with one distribution agreement, while retaining exclusivity in the UK, that is the best of both worlds for the BBC."
What's unclear is whether Disney now has any creative input with Doctor Who, though there has been a lot of chatter online that the streaming service is going to heavily involved with the series moving forward.
Doctor Who returns next year with three special episodes starring David Tennant as the Fourteenth Doctor, while Gatwa will then take over as the Fifteenth iteration shortly after. As always, you'll want to stay tuned to SFFGazette.com for updates.