‘Doctor Who’ Budget Set To Triple With Disney Plus Deal – But Is That Good for the Show?

Doctor Who is heading into a new era, not just with Ncuti Gatwa becoming the new face of the show, but also because the BBC is teaming up with Disney. If there’s one thing we know about Disney titles, it’s that they usually have astronomically high budgets – and it seems that Doctor Who could be getting the same treatment.

Entertainment industry site Broadcast estimates that Doctor Who‘s existing “£1-3m per episode budget could triple to circa-£10m” when filming kicks off for the show’s 14th season.

This is certainly a mighty amount of money. For context, Rings of Power, the most expensive show of the year, had an average budget of $89.4 million per episode, while House of the Dragon had $20 million.

“Beyond the hardcore fans, Doctor Who has never quite become a broad appeal show,” said a show insider, according to Radio Times. “But with the right investment [from] Disney Plus, Russell has a bigger blank piece of paper to really do something different.”

Of course, big budgets don’t always result in good TV shows (looking at you, Rings of Power). In fact, a good portion of the beauty of Doctor Who lies in the feel-good, low-budget episodes.

This might be my nostalgia as a Brit who grew up with the show, but what makes it great is strong writing and powerful characters. I don’t need high-end CGI, extravagant sets, or A-list cameos; I just want a storyline I care about and some adventures throughout time and space to get stuck into.

(featured image: The BBC)