Doctor Who, Daredevil and The Last of Us director Peter Hoar has reflected on Disney+ ditching its lucrative co-funding deal for Doctor Who, and admitted that ultimately “something went flawed.”
Hoar originally directed Matt Smith episode A Good Man Goes to War, before returning to the BBC’s flagship sci-fi series for Ncuti Gatwa’s more moderen stories The Robot Revolution and Lucky Day. These formed a part of show’s most up-to-date season — the second and final set of episodes delivered to life with an injection of Disney money.
Speaking now, months after the BBC was left to verify Disney had walked away, Hoar suggested the deal hadn’t been successful because the show hadn’t gotten “higher” despite the more money on screen.
“I do not think anybody would doubt the abilities on the front line of that show but something went flawed,” Hoar told Deadline. “I believe there have been a number of areas you can point fingers at but ultimately it wasn’t a greater show with more cash.”
Still, Hoar framed this ultimately as a “good thing” — as without Disney+ on board and with other streamers also trying to be more economical with their very own investments, “we have not got the cash anymore, no person has.”
Hoar was interviewed as he revealed plans to reboot fellow classic BBC sci-fi show Blake’s 7, a project he’s undertaking alongside A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder and The Witcher producer Matthew Bouch. Discussing why now was a superb time to revive the Blake’s 7 franchise, Bouch noted that the pair had seen “a niche available in the market within the UK – particularly with the well-publicized dropping off of Doctor Who – for genre-based British IP.” Ouch.
The BBC’s belated confirmation that it could proceed Doctor Who without Disney’s funding got here after months of speculation surrounding the show’s future. Current Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies had previously talked of writing scripts for a 3rd season within the show’s current era. Now, all of the BBC has confirmed is that it is going to fund a single, one-off episode penned by Davies to be shown this Christmas — which many fans expect might be used to wrap up his cliffhanger, before a more everlasting future for the show is found.
Deadline previously reported that Disney’s Doctor Who deal fell apart resulting from concerns across the show’s budget and shrinking audience — with no suggestion it was more likely to break through to a mainstream American audience. Amid criticism of the series’ writing and story arcs, even Doctor Who actor, author and superfan Mark Gatiss recently suggested the show was in need of a rest.
“We’d wish to thank Disney+ for being terrific global partners and collaborators over the past two seasons, and for the upcoming The War Between the Land and the Sea,” said Lindsay Salt, the BBC’s Director of Drama, upon the announcement that Disney had walked away. “The BBC stays fully committed to Doctor Who, which continues to be considered one of our most loved dramas, and we’re delighted that Russell T Davies has agreed to write down us one other spectacular Christmas special for 2026. We are able to assure fans, the Doctor isn’t going anywhere, and we might be announcing plans for the subsequent series in the end which is able to make sure the TARDIS stays at the guts of the BBC.”
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You may reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social