Streaming Doctor Who (well, new Doctor Who at least) use to be easy. The rebooted show had past episodes on a myriad of platforms like Netflix and Hulu and Amazon Prime. That was a while ago and as of right now the only place you can get NuWho is on Prime, but that’s about to change as HBO Max, WarnerMedia’s new streaming service, has entered into a massive agreement with the BBC for American streaming rights to a host of their shows.
The deal brings all 11 seasons of Doctor Who (that’s all the NuWho seasons) to HBO Max and only HBO Max. The streamer will also play host to all future seasons once they have aired on BBC America. That is a lot of Doctor Who for the platform, though if you’re looking to watch the classics in the series those still seem to be exclusive to BritBox.
The deal also includes a long list of other BBC classics, including the UK versions of The Office, Top Gear, Luther, and The Honorable Woman. It will also play host to a series of new BBC shows coming this season.
This is a great pull for HBO Max, which doesn’t especially need the content, but looks like an even better deal when you consider its netting a prestige producer like the BBC’s almost entire content library. There’s a ton of die-hard fans out there that will pay simply to have this content. It is also a chance for those that don’t know Doctor Who to find it more easily as we’re guessing that HBO Max will put a bit more effort into promoting the fact that the show is on the service than Amazon has.
I’m not super enthused about this on the whole as HBO Max wasn’t one of the streaming services I had budgeted my life around but if they keep pulling in good content I may have to sign up. Still, Jodie Whitaker’s Doctor is worth watching even if it is taking a different tactic than previous seasons.
‘Doctor Who’ to Stream Exclusively on HBO Max [Variety]
