As Doctor Who looks to the future—including the upcoming Christmas special that showrunner Russell T. Davies is currently puzzling over—the long-running show is still dealing with the lingering aftereffects of its split with Disney. One example: the spin-off The War Between the Land and the Sea has aired on the BBC, but Disney+ has yet to schedule a release date for it.
But with or without Disney, the BBC has firmly maintained its commitment to all things Time Lord—and it seems it’s also not against finding a new producing partner to help offset some of the costs. Another American one, even.
The appeal of teaming up with Disney—bigger budgets, more exposure—was also seemingly the deal’s downfall, as the cost required to polish up the show’s production values didn’t translate to increased ratings, among other issues. Still, the sting of the partnership’s failure hasn’t spooked the BBC’s Director of Drama, Lindsay Salt.
In a new interview with Deadline, Salt became the latest BBC representative to be asked about Doctor Who. Salt backed up earlier reports that it’s not certain yet how the show will be funded in the long term; she also reiterated that the Christmas special is the main Doctor Who course on the table at the moment.
“There are different ways of setting up a show,” she told Deadline. “We just need to make sure we do it in the right way and make sure we take the right time to do it. Ultimately it’s one of the BBC’s most treasured brands, so it’s not going anywhere.”
Asked about the inevitable budget decrease now that the House of Mouse has moved on, she said, “I managed to walk into this job when the co-pro market imploded, and I’ve learned a lot about the tenacity of producers and writers to make things at all budget levels. Things are getting funded in so many different ways now.”
Notably, Deadline reported, “Salt doesn’t rule out attempting to strike another splashy American co-pro deal for Doctor Who.” The trade points out that HBO Max is launching soon (March 26) in the UK and that HBO is already working with the BBC on several high-profile titles, including new projects from Baby Reindeer‘s Richard Gadd and I May Destroy You‘s Michaela Coel.
Doctor Who fans in the U.S. will also remember that when the Warner Bros. streaming service HBO Max first launched, it brought a TARDIS-load of modern Doctor Who episodes with it (all since removed, as is the nature of streaming libraries).
“We’ll wait and see how we figure it out,” Salt said of the possibility of a new Doctor Who team-up. “HBO have been great partners creatively. There’s a lot of stuff that is changing out there.”
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