Doctor Who Series 14 Air Dates Confirmed; Controversy Ensues

Ahh yes, the “Shameful” BBC, as the Daily Mail calls it while quoting Twitter users with three followers and no profile picture. I’ll admit, I’m a little confused by the decision myself, for several reasons. Even if it benefits me I don’t fully understand the decisions made for series 14 (no, Russell, not 1). Announced on Friday, Doctor Who series 14 will be airing on the 10th of May… Or the 11th. Outside of press releases, social media posts just gave the two dates with some stuff no one read properly because they were confused by the two dates.

“For those in the UK, for the first time ever, the Doctor will land with two episodes premiering on BBC iPlayer at midnight, before arriving on BBC One later that day right before the Eurovision Song Contest Grand Final,” the press statement says. For those in the US or those that don’t understand timezones (in my experience, that’s the same) that means 4 PM PDT, 7 PM EDT. I don’t see much wrong there, it is fine but of course “woe is me, I must be first to see it” is across social media the same way COVID conspiracies and Crypto scams are.

However, if you listen to those same social media accounts the Daily Mail and Daily Mirror (Himmler on stilts) quote, the sky is falling and it is the death of Doctor Who as we know it. It’s not. Many of them are quick to shout that US viewers get to watch the show at a “reasonable time” while UK viewers “must watch at midnight or wait until the next afternoon.” Now, I get it, it can be embarrassing to be corrected by a dyslexic on your reading comprehension, but that’s not what the statement says.

Now, admittedly, the statement about a show that features time travel does get time wrong in a certain way, but what is said is that the two episodes will be on BBC iPlayer at midnight. Unless someone is smoking a good amount of crack with a speedball chaser, I don’t think it will disappear from the BBC iPlayer for a few hours in the morning through the afternoon. Only to reappear as soon as Graham Norton starts being sassy. Don’t want to stay up to midnight? Watch it in the morning. To quote Clarkson: Sometimes, my genius, it generates gravity.

The bit that gets me is the timing, or rather the date itself; not just personally, but it is Eurovision. Listen to the same moaning accounts online they’ll tell you that Doctor Who is exclusively for the gays and the theys now, something that has been the case as we constantly see tens of these accounts complain about gay/trans characters. If Doctor Who is exclusively for the gays and the theys now, why are we putting it on during the LGBTQIA Christmas that is Eurovision? Surely they’re all drunk by 3 PM, destroyed by 9, and asleep by 11.

Jokes aside, I do think the timing could have been better, especially surrounding such a massive thing already on the BBC. It is Ncuti’s first full series. Give the guy the best possible chance instead of fighting the powerhouse that is Eurovision, which the BBC said last year’s final peaked at 11 million and averaged out to 9.9 (162 million worldwide). I can understand the idea of avoiding the headline “BBC Doctor Who hits Russell’s lowest viewership.” Though does putting it on streaming before airing at 4-5 PM ahead of Eurovision negate that? No.

Of course, that isn’t the only news from the press release, with some details about the series itself being included alongside the 30-second teaser. The press release itself notes: “This [series] will also see the return of Michelle Greenidge as Carla Sunday, Angela Wynter as Cherry Sunday[,] and Anita Dobson as Mrs Flood as well as featuring an array of special guest stars including Jinkx Monsoon, Aneurin Barnard, Yasmin Finney, Jonathan Groff, Bonnie Langford, Jemma Redgrave, Lenny Rush and Indira Varma with more to be announced soon.” Hopefully setting up this U.N.I.T. spin-off that’s been rumored for months now.

Russell also had something to say about the premiere: “At last, it’s my great delight to unleash a whole new [series] of the Doctor and Ruby’s adventures together. Monsters! Chases! Villains! Mysteries! And a terrifying secret that’s been spanning time and space for decades. Don’t miss a second!” Russell, I’ll correct you every time you say season, don’t test me. It was your typical quote drumming up excitement, not many details, just vague terms surrounding the show.

On the weekly releases, the press statement said: “An episode will continue to drop on BBC iPlayer at midnight, followed by a primetime slot on BBC One each week following that.” In reality, I think the midnight release thing works for a lot of things, music, Netflix shows, and whatever else, but I think the show that is described as ostensibly a long-standing British family show releasing at midnight is a little stupid. It’s inevitable to shift towards streaming, but maybe know where the premiere market is, eh lads?

As we’ve already covered, in detail, Doctor Who series 14 starts on the 11th of May in the UK at midnight on the iPlayer, and prime-time, afternoon in the US on Disney Plus, with a double episode premiere. We don’t know much about the episodes, including names or writers. That said, we know that episode one is to be directed by Julie Anne Robinson, mostly known for directing Bridgerton, Orange is the New Black, Grey’s Anatomy, Masters of Sex, The Good Place, and more. Ben Chassell helms the chair for episode 2, “The Devil’s Chord,” and he’s best known for Australian comedies, and the only notable exception being The Great.