detox just to retox

Will Disney renew their deal to co-produce Doctor Who?

We don't know.

Disney usually wait until 1-3 months after a show has finished airing before confirming a renewal. They have renewed a few shows earlier - when they've been a massive hit, or in order to start production early to get a special ready for Christmas - but 1-3 months is the norm.

Were Disney happy with the Gatwa episodes?

We don't know.

We don't even know their metric for success. Number of viewers? Number of new subscribers? Critical acclaim?

Disney didn't renew Andor beyond its second season, even though the show's been hugely acclaimed. Indeed, Disney have pulled the plug on several shows - the streaming landscape has changed a lot since the original Doctor Who deal, with most streamers tightening their belts.

Did Ncuti Gatwa quit because of uncertainty about the show's future?

We don't know.

People quit their jobs for all sorts of reasons. Usually, there's more than one reason.

Would Ncuti Gatwa have stayed if Disney had renewed early?

We don't know.

It is possible. Gatwa's contract was with Bad Wolf, not Disney. The contract might have been for three years, as with other modern Doctors - in which case he'd have still been under contract if they'd started filming a third series in time.

But this is speculation, since we don't know what was in the contract.

Did Ncuti Gatwa fall out with Russell T Davies?

We don't know.

It's interesting to me that Davies was present on set for Gatwa's final shoot. He wasn't present for Eccleston's. But this may mean nothing. It's also - of course - none of our fucking business.

Did the final episode originally have a drastically different ending?

We don't know.

We do know a week of additional shooting was added in February.

This isn't unusual. Extra shooting also occurred for The Church on Ruby Road (the scene where the Doctor saves a baby from an inflatable snowman) and The Robot Revolution (the scene where we meet Belinda's housemates).

One possibility is that, counter-intuitively, filming more material might actually save money. There are tax breaks in the UK for episodes of television that cost a certain amount - so spending a little extra to meet the threshold might save a larger sum in tax.

We don't know what was in the final episode. Behind-the-scenes show Doctor Who Unleashed featured a scene that wasn't in the final episode - a party at UNIT HQ - but it's limited data.

Has the BBC cancelled Doctor Who?

No.

British TV has never worked like American network TV, so "cancellation" isn't the right word. The BBC haven't yet commissioned new Doctor Who - and can't do until Disney decide whether to co-produce. Whether it's a yes or no from Disney, nothing further can be commissioned until the answer comes.

Will a different streaming service co-fund Doctor Who?

We don't know.

If Disney turn it down, though, it seems like a safe bet. Disney Plus is a massive platform - Doctor Who is a drop in the ocean of their shows. A smaller streamer might see more value in Doctor Who.

If X people will subscribe to a service just for Doctor Who, it's a question of how much each service cares about the number X. Disney's one of the services that needs X subscribers the least.

Doctor Who has two advantages in 2025 that it didn't have in 2022, when the last deal was made:

Firstly, the rights to stream the Eccleston to Whittaker eras in the US are about to revert to the BBC from HBO Max. Streamers love catalogue shows (i.e. shows with loads of episodes, like Friends and Star Trek), so that's a great package to sweeten the deal of a co-production. Pay for 26 episodes, get 175 free.

Secondly, the BBC are developing a children's cartoon version of Doctor Who aimed at -year-olds - with exactly the same format as Bluey, one of the biggest ever successes on streaming. Bearing in mind the BBC co-produced Bluey, this seems like a very attractive show to offer any streaming service willing to fund the main show.

Indeed, this seems so good to me that even if Disney weren't originally going to renew, this might tempt them to change their minds.

Is Billie Piper playing the new Doctor?

We don't know.

It looks like she is! That's usually what it means when one Doctor regenerates into a different actor. But unlike with Tennant in 2022, Piper isn't credited as the Doctor, and neither has there been a press release confirming her as the Sixteenth Doctor.

Why hasn't the BBC confirmed Billie Piper's role?

We don't know.

Maybe they don't want the news to be overshadowed by negative press attention to the future of the show. Maybe production company Bad Wolf wants an air of mystery and intrigue around Piper's role. Maybe she isn't playing the Doctor in some way. Maybe there's a reason we haven't considered.

Will Russell T Davies be showrunner for the next series of Doctor Who?

We don't know.

We don't know anything - and it's possible nobody does. Davies has said that Bad Wolf has plans ("it's our job to have plans").

I do think it's likely the BBC will keep Bad Wolf and Davies if possible. If nothing else, there isn't a long list of companies who can make this show, or showrunners of Davies's experience and acclaim who want to make this show.

Why are people behaving as though they know all the answers to all these questions if we don't actually know them?

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Its even more in character after ch. 25 acespec mf is like if this is a #romantic action I gotta see if it feels #romantic doing it

-11 episodes later-

Oh you’re so right actually.

Tamaki, amidst an illegitimate child scandal, unable to see his loving mother, stuck in a loveless household with the grandmother that tore his life apart in a foreign country: YOUR LIFE MUST BE SO MISERABLE, HARUHI!!!

he’s against whimsy and joy

// I'm not sure why I'm in a very cuddly Jonathan mood but like what ever!!

One of the extras in H&K vol.4 is about Hirano and Kagiura calling each other "(o)niichan" ("big brother" in english). Is this extra mostly a silly thing about a conversation they had when studying while being tired? Yes. Did my brain get stuck on it anyway? Also yes. In my defense, their reactions to being called oniichan makes way too much sense for these characters and how they want their relationship to be. So I'm going to talk about that.

Both Hirano and Kagiura get really excited getting called oniichan (can't really blame them for that, they both look adorable saying it) and embarrassed saying it. But there are still quite a few important differences. But first I'm going to talk about why they would react the way they do to being called oniichan.

Hirano gets excited in a purehearted way. I think the reason reacts that way is two-fold. First reason is related to Hirano's reaction to Kagiura telling about his siblings. Hirano thinks that they sound really close. Hirano isn't interested in getting closer to Kagiura in a romantic sense, but getting closer in a more platonic sense? Given how easily Hirano has accepting being close to Kagiura in all kinds of ways as long as it wasn't thought of in a romantic way, I don't think Hirano would mind. He'd might even want that.

Secondly, Hirano is naturally the kind to take care of people and especially loves to take care of Kagiura. Currently he gets to do that as his roommate and senpai. As "oniichan" he falls even more into the caretaker for Kagiura role. The way I see it, going the "big brother" route (instead of the romantic one) would be similar to their current relationship, only more so. Which Hirano is probably very much in favor for. He has, after all, been mainly fighting for keeping their current relationship since Kagiura confessed to him.

Basically, Kagiura calling Hirano for niichan basically implies a relationship like the one they have currently, but even more so. Which Hirano would like, and Kagiura very much wouldn't. It's the opposite when Hirano calls Kagiura oniichan.

Kagiura's reaction to being called oniichan honestly makes me wonder if he has an oniichan kink, but I digress. I talked before about how the one being called oniichan is in the caretaker role. And Kagiura has been working hard on making Hirano rely on him. It's been mostly framed as Kagiura wanting to equals with Hirano, but with how much he liked Hirano being "needy" with him and this extra, Kagiura clearly also just likes being able to take care of Hirano. So Kagiura likes this role reversal a lot. Hirano does not.

In the end, Kagiura decides that he's fine with calling Hirano oniichan as long as Hirano said it back, while Hirano absolutely does not want to say it again. Kagiura was originally against it because then Hirano would never see him in a romantic light, but that is less of a problem when Kagiura isn't stuck in the "little brother" role. Also, looking at it through the lens of who the caretaker is, it's not like Kagiura doesn't like being taken care of by Hirano. He just has a problem with it being this one-sided.

Meanwhile, we've never really seen Hirano be in the role of the one being taken care of. Like, his idea of being needy with Kagiura is waking up even earlier to spend time with him, or being taught basketball by him. Neither of which is really letting Kagiura take care of Hirano as much as Hirano takes care of Kagiura. Being taken care of by Kagiura just isn't really something Hirano is interested in. Any way he does let Kagiura take care of him is because Kagiura wants to take care of him. So when he calls Kagiura oniichan he just gets embarrassed and doesn't really get anything positive out of being in the "little brother" role.