Classic Doctor Who, which included episodes broadcast from when the series launched in 1963 until it was rested in 1989, has been removed by BritBox UK and ITVX (via Premium subscription).
An official reason has not been provided by BritBox at time of writing, though it’s thought that the streamer has lost the rights to keep the show on its platform. Meanwhile, the Classic Doctor Who episodes are available to stream now on BBC iPlayer.
The Doctor Who Christmas Special: “Joy To The World” has achieved an official rating (after 7 days and once BBC iPlayer data has been been taken into account) of 5.9 million which is an uplift of 1.8m from the initial overnight values and the highest rated episode since last years Christmas special “The Church on Ruby Road” which achieved 7.49m.
The final episode of Gavin & Stacey is the UK’s most-watched TV programme shown on Christmas Day in 23 years, new figures show. Official ratings for the sitcom’s 90-minute farewell, which was the centrepiece of BBC One’s 2024 festive schedules, are 19.1 million.
This is the biggest audience for a Christmas Day broadcast on UK television since the episode of Only Fools & Horses on December 25 2001, which attracted 21.3 million viewers.
Doctor Who star Tom Baker has been made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the New Year Honours list for his services to television.
The 90-year-old actor played the fourth incarnation of the Time Lord for seven seasons between 1974 and 1981, the longest consecutive stint for any actor in the title role of the hit BBC sci-fi show.
Born in Liverpool in 1934 to a father in the Merchant Navy and a mother who worked as a barmaid and cleaner, Baker joined a religious order when he was 15 after struggling at school academically but left the monastic life after becoming disillusioned.
He did his National Service in the Army medical corps, where he developed his love of acting in the amateur dramatics group.
He went on to study at the Rose Bruford College of Speech and Drama in Sidcup, south-east London, where he met his first wife, Anna Wheatcroft, with whom he had two children before they separated.
His first professional role was in Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale at the Cambridge Theatre, the Edinburgh Festival and in Venice.
Baker joined the National Theatre in 1968 where he was spotted by Laurence Olivier, who cast him as the Prince of Morocco in The Merchant Of Venice with Olivier playing Shylock.
Baker’s first major film role was as Rasputin in the 1971 film Nicholas And Alexandra alongside Olivier as Count Witte.
He co-started with Dame Maggie Smith in the The Millionairess, directed by Bill Slater, and while working as a labourer between acting jobs, Slater helped him land the biggest role of his career – the Doctor.
During his seven years on Doctor Who, Baker began a relationship with co-star Lalla Ward, who played the second incarnation of Romana, and they married in 1980 but separated a couple of years later.
In 1986, he married a third time, to Sue Jerrard, an assistant editor on the show.
Baker returned to Doctor Who playing “The Curator” for the 50th anniversary special The Day Of The Doctor in 2013, which also saw David Tennant make a comeback during Matt Smith’s tenure as the Doctor.
However, Baker ruled out making an appearance to mark the 60th anniversary last year, saying he did not wish to work with the actors who succeeded him.
He told Radio Times magazine:
“I avoid them, you know. Not with any malice. A degree of contempt, perhaps but mildly, mildly contemptuous.”
Baker returned to the stage after quitting as the Doctor, performing for the Royal Shakespeare Company and National Theatre.
On TV he played a sea captain Rum in Blackadder II and Puddleglum the Marshwiggle in a BBC production of The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Silver Chair, and Professor Hoyt in hospital drama Medics.
He was cast as a ghost in the 2000 revival of Randall And Hopkirk (Deceased) starring Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer, and was the distinctive narrator in Matt Lucas and David Walliams’ sketch series Little Britain.
His autobiography Who On Earth Is Tom Baker? was published in 1997 and he went on to write a dark, comedic story titled The Boy Who Kicked Pigs.
Gavin & Stacey 12.32m
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl 9.38m
The King (BBC and ITV) 6.81m (not including other channels)
Call The Midwife 4.42m
EastEnders 4.39m
Doctor Who 4.11m
Strictly Come Dancing 4.05m
EastEnders 3.98m
Tiddler 3.23m
The Weakest Link 3.05m
All figures are based on “overnight” TV ratings – which do not include viewers who watch Christmas specials on catch-up services during the rest of the festive period.
Source: BARB overnight figures
“There are forces beyond this universe… It’s all a game to them” Doctor Who returns in 2025.
The BBC has released a teaser for season two of Doctor Who, premiering in 2025 on BBC and BBC iPlayer in the UK and Disney+ outside of the UK (where available).
The teaser features a first-look at the new season starring Ncuti Gatwa as the Doctor, Varada Sethu as Belinda Chandra and Millie Gibson as Ruby Sunday.
The Doctor meets Belinda Chandra and begins an epic quest to get her back to Earth. But a mysterious force is stopping their return and the time-traveling TARDIS team must face great dangers, ferocious enemies and wilder terrors than ever before.
Russell T Davies is showrunner and executive producer. Additional executive producers are Joel Collins, Phil Collinson, Julie Gardner and Jane Tranter.
Doctor Who is produced by Bad Wolf, with BBC Studios for BBC One and BBC iPlayer, and Disney Branded Television.
Rose Ayling-Ellis MBE will be joining Ncuti Gatwa’s Doctor for a thrilling and frightening adventure in the upcoming 15th season of Doctor Who, which will air in 2025.
Russell T Davies, Showrunner says: “We always want guest actors on Doctor Who to have fun, but Rose takes it to a whole new level. She storms in with an astonishing performance of terror, anger and bravery in one of the most frightening episodes we’ve ever made.”
Rose Ayling-Ellis, says:
“I loved Doctor Who when I was growing up, so being cast in the show was a dream come true. My inner child is ecstatic with excitement! Working with Russell and filming alongside the talented cast and crew has been an incredible experience. Ncuti is a wonderful Doctor, and I can’t wait for audiences to see what we have created together.”
This year, Rose has been awarded an MBE for voluntary services to the Deaf community, and she became the first Deaf presenter of live sport at the Paralympic Games. She was also the subject of Who Do You Think You Are and appeared in Ludwig. Rose became the first ever deaf actress to play a deaf character in EastEnders and she won Strictly Come Dancing in 2021 subsequently winning the BAFTA TV Award for ‘Must-See Moment’ in 2022.
The series is produced by Bad Wolf with BBC Studios for the BBC and Disney Branded Television, and will air on BBC One and BBC iPlayer simultaneously in the UK, and exclusively on Disney+ outside of the UK where available.
“The streamers are heading for a South Sea bubble.”
That is the verdict of Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies, whose long-running BBC series was given a mega cash injection from Disney in 2022.
Pondering the future of the industry on the BBC’s Today, Davies said he “kind of hopes it does pop” in reference to the streaming revolution, which has experienced serious teething problems since Disney invested in Doctor Who.
Davies, who has mostly created shows for British broadcasters, longed for the industry to “go back to making 8 p.m. dramas about lawyers or health centres, or shows that teach people how to make television.”
“There are too many streamers, too much money and not everyone is watching so it can’t be financially viable,” he said.
Although Doctor Who is now made with U.S. money, he reiterated previous remarks that the sci-fi smash is still not as lavishly invested in as rival American shows. For a recent scene in the currently-filming Doctor Who season, Davies said he demanded 200 extras for the first time in his career, only to turn on the first episode of The Day of the Jackal and see that, in his mind, there were 500 extras. “I just think, ‘How do you keep up with this?’,” said Davies.
While Davies stressed that he wanted Doctor Who to “look like Stranger Things,” hence the attraction of the Disney money, he said it “would have found a different shape, a different form,” had the Mouse House not jumped aboard. As we revealed recently, the future of the BBC-Disney deal hangs in the balance and Davies said no decision has yet been made over Season 3 of the regenerated version, which stars Ncuti Gatwa as the 14th Doctor.
He was speaking a day after the Christmas special trailer was unveiled, which features Bridgerton star Nicola Coughlan as she and Gatwa take on dinosaurs after opening a secret doorway to a time hotel. Davies’ long-time collaborator Steven Moffat has written the episode.
“I was once told by a magazine editor that if there is snow in it we will print the pictures so [making it Christmas-y] is quite obviously a marketing technique but it is Christmas and it’s what you want,” said Davies on the Christmas-y slant. “It’s a picture book Christmas and I think Doctor Who is at its best when it does that.”
(With thanks to Deadline.)
Ham and cheese toastie and a pumpkin latte? The Doctor, played by Ncuti Gatwa, returns this Christmas for a time-hopping trip through the history of Earth. The special, Joy To The World is written by Steven Moffat and airs Christmas Day at 17:10 on BBC One.
The episode introduces Joy, starring Nicola Coughlan (Bridgerton, Derry Girls), who checks into a London hotel in 2024, only to discover that her quiet stay is anything but ordinary. When Joy opens a secret doorway to the Time Hotel, she discovers danger, dinosaurs and the Doctor. But a deadly plan is unfolding across the Earth, just in time for Christmas.
BBC Television has now confirmed all the UK dates and times for the Christmas 2024 Doctor Who content which is as follows:
Date | Title | Time | Channel |
23rd December | Doctor Who: The War Games In Colour | 9.00pm | BBC-4 |
24th December | Doctor Who at the Proms | 4:10pm | BBC-2 |
25th December | Doctor Who: Joy To The World | 5.10pm | BBC-1 |
25th December | Doctor Who Unleashed: Joy To The World | 7.10pm | BBC-3 |
The Disney Plus Doctor Who deal is set to continue into 2025, with a second season of the show having already been shot. Meanwhile, a spin-off series, The War Between the Land and the Sea, has also been produced.
Beyond that is less clear – the show has yet to be officially renewed by Disney for a third season under the deal, season 16, although showrunner Russell T Davies has assured fans this is nothing to worry about.
He previously told SFX Magazine:
“It’s an industry decision, it’s like any business – these things take time. I think the decision will come after the transmission of season two. That’s what we’re expecting, that’s what we’ve always been heading towards.”
Before this, Doctor Who will be back at Christmas for this year’s festive special, Joy to the World, which has been written by Steven Moffat and stars Nicola Coughlan, alongside Fifteenth Doctor actor Ncuti Gatwa.
