BBC changing the time Doctor Who releases in the UK is not a good decision

The BBC has revealed when Doctor Who is coming back to screens around the world and this doesn’t appear to be a good decision for the UK audience.

Millie Gibson made her debut as Ruby Sunday in the Christmas special episode titled The Church on Ruby Road, and will now return as a companion to Ncuti Gatwa’s Doctor in season one, alongside Jinkx Monsoon, Michelle Greenidge, Angela Wynter Anita Dobson, Aneurin Barnard, Yasmin Finney, Jonathan Groff, Bonnie Langford, Jemma Redgrave, Lenny Rush and Indira Varma.

Season one will premiere with two episodes on May 10 on Disney+, and May 11 for the UK on BBC iPlayer. Due to the timezones, the episodes still release at the same time however it’s evening for the US and midnight for the UK.

In the article from the BBC, it’s mentioned that “Viewers in the UK will now be able to watch whenever and wherever they choose, with the option to watch from midnight”. Doctor Who episodes will also still be on BBC One later on in the evening at the usual primetime.

It’s possibly the biggest mistake for trying to change the times to fit streaming service (Disney+) in US & Canada instead; where it would be releasing at 4PM PT/7PM ET and just past midnight for everywhere else in Europe.

This is an inconvenience to those who don’t like having shows spoiled; as people will have to avoid spoilers throughout the entire day, due to the fact that episodes will already be releasing on BBC iPlayer at midnight each Saturday in the UK.

There’s about 19 hours of avoiding any spoilers if you choose to wait to watch it during the time it usually airs on BBC One.

If you’re looking to avoid spoilers, one option would involve having to stay away from social media that day or mute keywords on platforms such as X/Twitter until it’s been watched. Although, It’s not going to work if your job involves being on various social media.

Doctor Who has been premiering first in the UK at around 6PM or 7PM, alongside it being streamed on BBC iPlayer at the same time until this years change, and this brings in an average rating figure of 5 – 10 million from this time.

Here are the timezones for the episode premiere:

These timezones will also be for the rest of the episodes releasing weekly.

Los Angeles – 4PM PT on May 10, 2024. (Disney+)
New York – 7PM ET on May 10 (Disney+)
Toronto – 7PM ET on May 10 (Disney+)
London – 12AM BST on May 11 (BBC iPlayer)
Paris – 1AM CEST on May 11 (Disney+)
Berlin – 1AM CEST on May 11 (Disney+)
Rome – 1AM CEST on May 11 (Disney+)
Sydney – 9AM AEST on May 11 (Disney+)

When the BBC released the 2023 Christmas Day special, it went on Disney+ at 12:55PM ET/9:55 AM PT and on BBC iPlayer/BBC One at the same time for 5:55PM GMT, they could have to this more appropriate time or shifted it to the 7PM slot and it would have been a little bit later for the US.

There is a brand new trailer arriving next week on Friday March 22 for season one.

In other news, there is also the BBC’s cost-cutting decision to experiment with Generative AI for marketing beginning with Doctor Who, which could lead to the reduction of jobs.

Update March 30, 2023: BBC have turned back on their decision to continue using Generative A.I for Doctor Who, following multiple complaints.

Source: BBC Media Centre