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00:18Hello everybody, Ellie here for WhoCulture and we have some more news for you! You all thought
00:23that we'd have this dry spell and we wouldn't have things to talk about, but we do have some
00:28things to talk about. As with the last video, there will be some timestamps in this video so you can
00:32jump around the various tidbits, but before I get into the main bulk of what this video is going to
00:38be about, I do have another thing that I want to talk about first. And this revolves around the
00:43upcoming spin-off, The War Between the Land and the Sea, because folks, the BBC have done it to me
00:48again. They've done it to me again! If you recall in the previous video, I said, well, The War Between
00:57the Land and the Sea was in the Autumn highlights for the BBC, so we'll be seeing it in Autumn
01:022025
01:02at some point. Well, at Edinburgh TV Festival yesterday afternoon, the BBC confirmed that
01:11The War Between the Land and the Sea will be coming in 2026, not 2025, so. As per usual,
01:19I say something in the BBC proved me wrong. Now, to be honest with you, when it came up in
01:25the 2025
01:26Autumn slate, I was a bit surprised, because I think we all expected it to probably come in 2026,
01:33so this isn't exactly a surprise, I think this is what we thought was going to happen. But I do
01:37still
01:38have my theory, because I've always thought, hmm, I think this maybe will fill the Christmas slot this
01:42year. Technically, if it's at Christmas, it's not 2026, but, hear me out here, technically they can
01:49still fill that Christmas slot if they did it for New Year. We've had precedent of episodes coming
01:56out on New Year, New Year's Day, New Year's Eve, instead of Christmas Day, so if they do it how
02:02I
02:02think they're going to do it and release all five episodes one day after the other, as opposed to
02:07weekly. Technically, if they did it on New Year's Day 2026, I mean, it technically still counts as a
02:15holiday special, but it's in 2026, and then could fill that New Year's gap. Or it'll come out in
02:21spring, or summer, or autumn next year, who knows? We honestly don't know when it's going to come up,
02:25but that's my theory, that it's still going to fill that seasonal spot, but it will be New Year
02:32and just 2026, maybe. To be honest with you, maybe they don't know. I think a lot of this all
02:39depends
02:39on the ongoing conversations that are happening, and perhaps originally the plan was to put it out
02:45in autumn this year, but maybe discussions are happening about the main show that mean
02:49they're going to push it, which is highly likely. We've also had some plot details revealed
02:56recently as well, because star Russell Tovey commented on The Wall Between the Land and the Sea
03:02earlier this week, and this is what he had to say.
03:05It's set in our world. Climate change is a huge factor. Again, it needs to be factored more into
03:10art so we really get an understanding of it. It's this narrative of this guy who, basically,
03:15he's someone who works in the offices and books people's taxis, but by some series of events,
03:20he ends up becoming a very important figure in the world. And in true Doctor Who fashion,
03:24he's saving the planet. I'm really proud of it, and I'm terrified of it, and excited by it.
03:29All of those things. But working on it was brilliant, and the scripts were fab.
03:33That sounds like such a Doctor Who concept, doesn't it? Somebody who's not important becoming
03:38important. I mean, literally, Donna, Martha, Rose. It's a thing in Doctor Who's. An ordinary person.
03:45When I say not important, I mean an ordinary person who becomes so important. You know,
03:51there's that whole line of, I've never met anybody who isn't important. Like, I feel like
03:55that's such a good concept that Doctor Who does very, very well. I'm just glad we're getting a
03:59bit more information about it. I spoke about my thoughts on the war between the land and the sea
04:03in our previous video. I'm very excited about it. More so than I was originally. I think the trailer
04:09we saw has definitely piqued my interest. I also am drawn to the fact that I think it's going to
04:14be
04:14more mature than the main show has been in terms of the topics and the subject matter.
04:20So I am intrigued. I'm excited to see where it's going to be, and God knows when we're going to
04:24see it, but apparently 2026. But the main thing I want to talk to you about today is the fact
04:30that
04:30the BBC has finally issued some sort of firm statement about Doctor Who's future. Now this
04:37came straight from the horse's mouth, as it were, from Kate Phillips, who is the chief content officer
04:43at the BBC. And she was also at Edinburgh TV Festival yesterday afternoon. And this is what
04:49she had to say. Any Whovians out there, rest assured, Doctor Who is going nowhere. Disney has
04:55been a great partnership, and it continues with the war between the land and the sea next year.
04:59But going forward, with or without Disney, Doctor Who will still be on the BBC.
05:04So just to get this out of the way right at the beginning here, because there are some people
05:08saying that, again, this is a clever wordplay, and that she's referring to the brand and the
05:13back catalogue of Doctor Who, as opposed to the future of Doctor Who. But why would she need to
05:19reiterate that? Of course Doctor Who is going to stay on BBC. Like, the brand of Doctor Who isn't
05:25going to leave the BBC. But I don't think that's what she's saying here. She's not saying the back
05:29catalogue's suddenly going to disappear off of the BBC. Also, I can hear a lot of people saying,
05:33this isn't news. This is not news. This is news. This is the most definitive thing that the BBC
05:40have said on this topic in quite some time. And honestly, we should know because we're the ones
05:45covering all of this news. We are monitoring this all of the time. But I can agree, it doesn't feel
05:52like news in the sense that, well, yeah, this is literally what we've all been saying the entire
05:57time. Now we have confirmation of it, which is news because we hadn't had that previously. But it's
06:04not news in the fact that we all kind of figured that out already. And obviously, this is just
06:08confirming what we already had speculated, that, you know, the BBC does not want to let go of Doctor
06:13Who. Yes, it might go on a break for a year or two, but they were never going to get
06:18rid of Doctor Who,
06:19the brand, ever. It's one of their best brands that they have on the BBC. I mean, let's look at
06:25some
06:25of the statistics here. In 2023, Doctor Who is one of the top British TV exports, contributing to a
06:3213% increase in UK distributor revenues from the US. 2024, the BBC names Doctor Who one of its key
06:40brands for the future alongside Bluey, and that was in an official audit. Also in 2024, Stephen Moffat
06:47explained why Doctor Who is so valuable to the BBC. That's a hard word to say, valuable.
06:55This is what he had to say, quote, everyone talks about ratings as if they matter. I was in a
07:01position to know how much money that show generated. That's the number you want to look at. And that's
07:05why Doctor Who still gets made. It's a massive show, and it's never not culturally important.
07:10Exactly, right? There is more to Doctor Who than just the ratings. There is more things to consider
07:15in terms of the brand as a wider thing. We talk about the merch, the toys, you know, that is
07:21a big
07:21thing for the BBC as well. Doctor Who is so important for so many reasons based on the stories
07:27it tells, based on so many things, and it's not just about the ratings. Especially now in this time
07:35of streaming and all these things, money is a very big factor as well. There is so many things to
07:41consider. Doctor Who is a goldmine for the BBC, so they are not going to want to get rid of
07:47it. But I feel
07:48like I'm kind of just repeating myself here because, as I say, this is what we've been saying
07:53the whole time without confirmation. But it's nice now to have that confirmation. The question now is
07:58when will we hear more information about its return? Will it be after the war between the land and the
08:03sea heirs? Will it be before then? And the big question on everyone's lips at the moment is will
08:08it be with Disney or will it be with somebody else or will it not be with a partner at
08:13all? Now what's
08:14quite interesting is that this statement says with or without Disney. Would they really say that if
08:21negotiations with Disney were still happening? It feels like an odd statement to make if they were
08:27still in the midst of making plans with Disney. This to me seems like that decision has been made
08:32whether it's with or without we don't know but it seems to me like those negotiations have been
08:37sorted at this point and they're just holding back on commenting. If you want my two cents on the
08:43situation that says to me they're now looking for somebody else. But why would you say with or
08:48without Disney if those negotiations were still happening? It just feels like a weird thing to say.
08:53But again this is a question that we've been asking many many times. Everyone wants to know
08:57where is it going to end up? We do have a video out on the channel The Future of Doctor
09:02Who where we
09:02break down all the various streamers and the likelihood of those being the choices that are made
09:07and why we think they would be a good fit or not. So do go and check that out. I
09:12don't want to just
09:13repeat myself by talking about all the various streaming options again. But it is obviously a
09:17conversation that we have had on the channel many fans are having. We are getting this news but it's
09:24kind of news but not news. As I say this is news because it's confirmation but it's not really
09:29telling us anything we didn't already know and we're still waiting for that. As I say for me
09:35with or without Disney suggests to me that that conversation is over now. Seems like a weird
09:39thing to say if they hadn't finished those negotiations but I don't know I'm not in the
09:43room so who knows what's happening. I do have one more quick thing to comment on about this. Now
09:47it's likely nothing but when Deadline covered this news they stated season 15 ended on an ambiguous
09:56note as Gatwa regenerated into Billy Piper's Rose Tyler. Rose Tyler? Hmm? Now this is probably just an
10:05editorial thing. They've just said that because that's who they know Billy Piper to have played.
10:10But there is a tiny tiny tiny slim chance that Deadline seems to know something that nobody else
10:14does and have they just confirmed or leaked that Billy Piper is actually playing Rose Tyler as
10:21opposed to the Doctor or any other version that we're not sure yet. I doubt it. I think this is
10:26probably just whoever wrote the article knew that Billy Piper played Rose Tyler and that's what
10:31they've said. But could you imagine if this is how we found out if someone had accidentally leaked
10:35some very vital information? I honestly still think that at this point they don't know. I still don't
10:42think they have an idea what they're doing with Billy Piper but you know hopefully we'll find out
10:47one day. So yeah basically there is a lot of questions still up in the air but it's nice to
10:51have some confirmation. It's a little unsettling not knowing what the future of the show is at the
10:57moment. What the plan is for at least the next couple of years. I do actually have a video coming
11:03very soon with my pitch for what the show should look like over the next couple of years. What
11:08decisions I would make in terms of Billy Piper, in terms of showrunners, in terms of stories.
11:14So keep your eyes peeled for that. It should be a fun watch. Let me know your thoughts on this
11:19situation in the comments down below. In the meantime I've been Ellie for Who Culture and in the words of
11:24Riversong herself. Goodbye sweeties.
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