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UPDATE: We have since heard from a BBC Worldwide spokesperson who told us: “We hope to announce a new digital partner for Doctor Who shortly.” For more on this story, click here.
Earlier this week, Netflix announced that British sci-fi juggernaut Doctor Who would be expiring from the service on January 31st. Today Decider can confirm that Doctor Who is also scheduled to be leaving Hulu’s streaming library on the exact same day. A Hulu spokesperson told us last night, “As of today, our library of Doctor Who is also expiring on January 31.”
The long-running time travel caper is one of the most popular British exports in television history and boasts legions of fans worldwide, so naturally, some people got worried. But how upset should Whovians be? Well…it’s difficult to say.
Here’s Why Doctor Who Fans Should NOT Be Worried:
When we reached out to Netflix for official comment on Doctor Who‘s expiration date, they told us, quote:
Titles are always being added and rotated off the service. There’s nothing specific to share about Doctor Who at this point.
Netflix has a long-standing history of pulling titles for a month or so and then adding them back to the service. Often this is the result of complicated licensing deals and other murky business legal work designed to prevent piracy. As of this time, Netflix has no reason to announce that Doctor Who is leaving for good. In fact, it was going to get pulled from the service last year and was almost immediately brought back. Also, Hulu’s official statement left the door open for the series to potentially come back — or not expire at all. We only know that as of right now, Doctor Who will be leaving Netflix and Hulu.
Here’s Why Doctor Who Fans COULD Be Worried:
Last September, it was reported that the BBC was planning to roll out an online subscription streaming service early this year that would allow Americans access to some of Britain’s most celebrated content. At the time, the BBC didn’t announce what shows would be available on this still-unnamed streaming service.
Here’s where Doctor Who fits in: The most popular BBC content in America would be Doctor Who, Sherlock, and the various period drama and crime gems that appear on PBS’s Masterpiece. Netflix has already locked down U.S. streaming rights to Sherlock and Amazon made a massive deal last year to secure much of the Masterpiece catalogue. That means Doctor Who is the only major BBC show that isn’t tied down to one pre-existing subscription-based streaming service. It’s up for grabs. It’s also the one that arguably boasts the most rabid and loyal American fans. It is not a huge leap in logic to theorize that the BBC might be planning to use Doctor Who as the proverbial “jewel in the crown” in its new streaming service.
We’ve reached out to representatives at BBC America — the American broadcast home of Doctor Who — but they haven’t responded with any more information or comment.
Why Doctor Who Fans Should Still Keep Calm:
Worst case scenario, Doctor Who is leaving streaming for a little while, soon to return on Netflix, Hulu, or on this big bad BBC platform. Best case scenario? A deal will be struck at the midnight hour that will let the show stay on Netflix or Hulu.
No matter what happens, though, you can still stream Doctor Who by buying individual episodes or complete seasons on VOD platforms like Amazon Video and iTunes.
For now, you have only a few days to stream Doctor Who before it’s scheduled to leave both Netflix and Hulu.
[Stream Doctor Who on Netflix]
[Stream Doctor Who on Hulu]
[Photo: Everett Collection]
