Doctor Who fans are missing out thanks to “frustrating” streaming issues

Doctor Who Season 14 became the first season to be released on Disney Plus, but some viewers are still losing out thanks to tricky streaming rights.

Disney Plus’ acquisition of Doctor Who Season 14 was a huge deal. For the first time in the show’s 61-year history, UK audiences were able to watch new episodes at the same time as international viewers.

It’s an ideal release format for a new era, and even inspired the BBC to rebrand Season 14 as “Season 1”, encouraging newcomers to feel more comfortable with tuning-in for the first time. However, not everyone is finding success with Who’s new streaming services, especially when it comes to watching classic Doctor Who episodes.

In the UK, there’s no such problem. The entire Doctor Who catalog can be found on BBC iPlayer, with all three eras — the classic, 2005’s NuWho, and 2023’s rebrand — being available to stream anytime. However, US and international viewers have a problem, since there’s no place to stream all episodes at once.

On Reddit, these fans have been lamenting the lack of a cohesive watching method, with one user asking: “How do you feel about Doctor Who streaming being a bit of a mess and needing like 4-5 different services?

“I know especially the old show is probably a mess of rights management, doubly so for the 3rd party recreation efforts, but why do we need BritBox, Tubi, Max and Disney+ if we want all streamable Doctor Who content? Is that really necessary?”

Disney Plus only carries the 60th anniversary specials and Season 14. Anything earlier than that, however, is scattered among platforms, including Tubi, BritBox, and Max. Meaning if you’re looking to watch the entire show from start to finish, you’ll be all over the place — and that’s not even including the TV movie and various specials.

Others were quick to agree, with one comment noting: “With the whole Whoniverse branding and everything being brought to iPlayer in the UK, it’s insane that there was seemingly no effort to make that happen on Disney+ internationally.”

“I don’t get why people outside the UK can’t just pay to access iPlayer,” another wrote.

“It must be incredibly frustrating if you can’t use iPlayer,” agreed another. “I will point out though that the first Doctor Who serial isn’t on iPlayer anymore because of rights issues. So even for the BBC, it’s complicated.”

Another simply said: “It’s a huge pain in the ass. Here in New Zealand, as far as I know, the only DW we can watch (legally) is this current season on D+.”

As Disney Plus cements its claim on the new Doctor Who adventures, it may be that they buy out the streaming rights once they expire on the other platforms. Until then, be sure to check out how to watch Doctor Who Season 14, so you don’t miss anything new.

Don’t miss our ‘The Legend of Ruby Sunday’ recap, and find out what to expect in the finale with our guides to the biggest Doctor Who Season 14 theories, as well as all the Doctor Who Season 14 villains explained.