The Walt Disney Co. and BBC announced a deal that will make Disney Plus the new home for upcoming seasons of the long-running series Doctor Who outside the U.K. and Ireland.

The BBC continues to be the exclusive home of Doctor Who in the U.K.

With the series about to mark its 60th anniversary next year, the companies said David Tennant, the actor who portrayed the 10th Doctor from 2005 to 2010, would play the 14th Doctor in three specials starting in November 2023. He will be followed by Ncuti Gatwa, who will become the 15th Doctor.

In a bit of corporate synergy, the new arrangement and casting was disclosed on Disney's Live with Kelly and Ryan.

Russell T. Davies will be the showrunner in 2023. The companies said he was responsible for reviving Doctor Who in 2005, propelling it into legendary status. The new episodes will be produced in Wales by Bad Wolf with BBC Studios.

In the U.S., Doctor Who had been running on AMC Networks' BBC America channel. BBC America said goodbye to the series in a tweet.

Past seasons of Doctor Who have been streaming on AMC Plus and HBO Max.  

A BBC spokesperson said existing partnerships will conclude over time. 

Financial terms of Disney's deal with the BBC were not disclosed.

"We are thrilled to announce this exciting global partnership with Disney who are the perfect partners to bring this very British show to the rest of the world," said Charlotte Moore, BBC's chief content officer. "Russell T. Davies' vision for Doctor Who has always been out of this world and we are committed to ensuring that audiences across the globe get the opportunity to enjoy the Doctor's epic adventures with the scale and ambition that they deserve. Joining forces with Disney will elevate the show to even greater heights and reach new audiences so it's an extremely exciting time for fans in the U.K. and across the world."

"We're excited by the opportunity to bring new seasons of this beloved franchise exclusively to Disney Plus and introduce the show to the next generation of audiences in more than 150 markets around the world," Disney Plus President Alisa Bowen added. "The series is a perfect addition to our ever-growing catalog of global content that continues to make Disney Plus the home for exceptional storytelling." ■

BBC added two senior executives in new posts to its growing digital news business in North America, naming Jen Brown senior VP of programming and content strategy, global digital news and streaming, and Saeed Ahmed as head of digital journalism, U.S.

Brown previously was senior VP of program planning and content partnership with NBCUniversal and its streaming service Peacock. She will report to Jennie Baird, executive VP and managing director, global digital news and streaming.

Ahmed was director of digital news for National Public Radio. He will report to Stuart Millar, digital executive news editor.

"The U.S. is a highly innovative and exciting market for digital journalism in text, video and audio," BBC News digital director Naja Nielsen said. "Our multimedia offer is already now used by 50 million consumers weekly, and we know we are more trusted than any other news brand in the U.S.

"In a highly polarized time we believe we have a very compelling and strong offer and that many more Americans would love to know and consume our journalism, known for being impartial, accurate and transparent, always in the pursuit of truth, reporting without fear or favor," Nielsen added. "I know Jen Brown and Saeed Ahmed are just the team to spearhead and deliver the growth of BBC News in the U.S."

Nielsen said Brown's "passion lies in building effective cross-functional teams and leading  them to successfully reach consumers on new platforms and drive revenue, making  her a critical addition to our growing team as BBC Studios continues to expand our worldwide digital news footprint outside of the U.K."

Ahmed, she said, consistently pioneered new ways of engaging audiences and bringing stories to life across digital platforms. "His aptitude for understanding what people want and developing compelling formats to address their needs makes him the ideal person to drive forward our digital journalism strategy in the U.S," Nielsen said. ■

BBC and NBCUniversal said they will work together to find and fund unscripted programming ideas they hope will have global appeal.

The venture will be open to U.K. based production companies and studios. The companies said they’ll look at a broad range of unscripted genres and will look to co-commission pilots for shows with series potential. 

Also Read: NBCU, Telemundo Launch Bilingual Hispanic Heritage Month Campaign

“This unique partnership is such an exciting opportunity for UK-based producers,” said Kate Phillips, director of entertainment, BBC Commissioning. “We want to lead the way in finding and investing in high impact, returnable British ideas and formats from all nations and regions, and this collaboration with NBCU will enable producers to develop their ideas at scale and win commissions on both sides of the Atlantic.”

BBC and NBCU have already share some unscripted series, with NBCU airing shows based on British ideas like The Wheel, The Weakest Link and Dragon’s Den.

On and off-screen diversity will form a significant part of the decision-making process, the companies said. 

BBC mob drama Peaky Blinders will end after season six. The story of Tommy Shelby and his notorious family’s rise to prominence and power in Birmingham, England after World War I, Peaky Blinders streams on Netflix. 

The show’s producers suggest the series will live on after season six. 

“Peaky is back and with a bang,” said creator Steven Knight. “After the enforced production delay due to the COVID pandemic, we find the family in extreme jeopardy and the stakes have never been higher. We believe this will be the best series of all and are sure that our amazing fans will love it. While the TV series will be coming to an end, the story will continue in another form.”

The cast includes Cillian Murphy, Helen McCrory and Joe Cole. 

Seasons one through five have six episodes apiece. It has not been announced when season six will air. 

“Along with our wonderful, supportive partners at BBC and Netflix, we have been working diligently to ensure we can get Peaky safely back into production; the safety of our cast and crew is always our priority,” said executive producer Caryn Mandabach. “Thank you to all the Peaky fans who have been so unwaveringly supportive and patient. Steve’s scripts are incredible and mark the end of an epic story that has entranced audiences since it first started in 2013, but the world of Peaky Blinders will most definitely live on.”

Anthony Byrne returns as director. Besides Knight, Mandabach and Byrne, the executive producers are Jamie Glazebrook, David Mason and Cillian Murphy. Tommy Bulfin is executive producer for the BBC and Lucy Bedford is executive producer for Tiger Aspect. 

Ovation TV said it signed a deal with BBC America that brings it the non-exclusive rights to all four seasons of the TV series Luther, starring Idris Elba.

The deal also includes six seasons of Death in Paradise.

Viewers will be able to watch both shows on Ovation TV during the fourth quarter of 2020.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

“With their consistent offering of high-quality programming, Ovation is always happy to partner with BBC Studios on acquisitions,” stated Scott Woodward, executive VP of programming and production for Ovation TV. “Luther and Death in Paradise are two standout titles that will fit in perfectly with our other premium mystery programming like Riviera and Agatha Christie’s Partners in Crime.

In Luther, Elba plays a maverick detective working for London’s Serious Crime Unit.

Luther is a BBC Studios and BBC America co-production for the BBC and distributed internationally by BBC Studios.

Death in Paradise follows Richard Poole, a detective inspector in for the U.K. police who gets transferred to a Caribbean Island. Poole, who hates the sun, sea and sand, investigates murders on the Island.

Death in Paradise is a Red Planet Pictures production for the BBC and distributed internationally by BBC Studios. Produced with the support of the Guadeloupe Regional Council.

Subscription streaming service BritBox is focused on delivering quality, new and classic British Tv fare to American viewers, according to BritBox president Soumya Sriraman. 

The two-year old SVOD channel, created by ITV and BritBox, offers iconic favorites, exclusive premieres, and current series and soaps, most of which are available within 24 hours after their UK premiere, according to the service. Sriraman discusses the BritBox brand as well as the digital streaming platform in the latest episode of MCN Original Videos' "OTT Spotlight."

Discovery and BBC Studios have forged a global partnership covering newly created and library content to fuel a new streaming subscription video on demand service next year, as well as splitting UKTV channels into two separate units.

The new 10-year content partnership is effective in all territories outside the UK, Ireland and Greater China, and will make Discovery the exclusive global home of BBC natural history programs in SVOD, like Planet Earth, Blue Planet and Life collections, Dynasties and others. Future BBC-commissioned series from BBC Studios also will be available after they are available on linear TV. Discovery also gets SVOD rights to hundreds of hours of BBC programming across factual genres, forming the  basis of a new global streaming service that will launch in 2020.

“Telling these stories is our mission and it is more important now than ever before,” Discovery CEO David Zaslav said in the press release. “The new platform will be the first global direct-to-consumer service with the category’s most iconic IP including the Planet Earth series, future sequels and spin-offs to all existing landmark series, and new exclusive natural history and science programming coming in the future. There is tremendous value in the marketplace for these programming categories which have broad appeal and strong multi-generational engagement, and we hope to fill the void in the global marketplace for a dedicated high quality product.”

Discovery and BBC Studios have also signed a development deal to create new factual content for Discovery for both linear and digital distribution. The two companies had earlier partners on natural history series like Planet Earth, Walking with Dinosaurs, Life and Blue Planet. As part of the new deal, they will co-fund a dedicated development team within BBC Studios.

“This is our largest ever content sales deal,” BBC Director-General Tony Hall said in the release. “It will mean BBC Studios and Discovery will work together to take our content right across the globe through a new world-beating streaming service.”

Also as part of the deal -- which is scheduled to close in the late spring -- Discovery will take full control of UKTV’s lifestyle channels Good Food, Home and Really, adding to its existing portfolio of 16 channels in the UK.

Following the deal closing, James Gibbons, EVP, GM, UK/IRL/ANZ & Commercial Development, Discovery EMEA, will manage the lifestyle channels as part of Discovery’s UK portfolio.

BBC Studios will acquire the remaining seven channels - Alibi, Dave, Drama, Eden, Gold, Yesterday and W - along with digital player UKTV Play, and the UKTV brand.

As part of the UKTV agreement, Discovery will receive payments of £173 million ($225.8 million) from BBC Studios. Discovery also will receive at least another £10 million ($13 million) from UKTV. BBC Studios and Discovery have also agreed a short-term program licensing agreement for the supply of BBC Studios lifestyle content to Discovery’s UKTV channels in the UK.

Actress Jodie Whittaker has been announced as the 13th Time Lord in the Doctor Who series and the first woman in the role.

Whittaker succeeds Peter Capaldi, who started in the role in 2013. She currently plays Beth Latimer on British crime drama Broadchurch.

Chris Chibnall, the creator of Broadchurch. is the new Doctor Who showrunner, with Steven Moffat departing.

Whittaker told the BBC it is "overwhelming, as a feminist" to be the next Doctor. She’ll make her debut in the Doctor Who Christmas special, when Capaldi departs.

Doctor Who has existed for 36 seasons on the BBC, starting in 1963, with 12 men playing the Doctor over the years.

The trailer for the new season shows Whittaker pulling back the hood of her sweatshirt, smiling and stepping towards the Tardis, a spaceship that resembles a British police telephone booth. (Tardis is short for Time and Relative Dimension in Space.)

“It’s more than an honor to play the Doctor,” Whittaker said in a statement. “It means remembering everyone I used to be, while stepping forward to embrace everything the Doctor stands for: hope.”

Discovery Communications has signed a long-term deal for rights to televise the Olympics in England.

The BBC, which has the U.K. rights to the 2018 and 2020 Olympics, is sub-licensing the pay TV rights to those games to Discovery. Discovery, whose Eurosport has the rights to the 2022 and 2024 games, is sub-licensing the broadcast right to those games to the BBC.

Financial terms were not disclosed. U.K. newspaper The Guardian put the value of the deal at $1.3 billion.

“Discovery is a passionate and committed partner of the Olympic Movement,” David Zaslav, Discovery CEO, said. "Today’s agreement is a win for UK sports fans and marks an exciting new chapter in Discovery and the BBC’s partnership on major sporting events."

Read more at broadcastingcable.com.

Discovery Networks International named production veteran Ed Sayer to its created team, as vice president, production and development, factual. Based at DNI’s London production hub, Sayer will report to executive vice president and chief creative officer Phil Craig.

Sayer is a 20-year television creative executive who has worked for some of the top networks and content providers in the world, including the BBC, ITV Studios and has led numerous creative and ratings success and has been responsible for hundreds of hours of content. In his new role at Discovery, Sayer will oversee, commission and create factual content with a team of producers, including series in genres like popular science, engineering, automotive, and survival.

“It’s a really exciting time for Ed to join Discovery Networks International, and we're thrilled to have him,” Craig said in a statement. “We're facing the future with great confidence, commissioning some compelling new content and developing a strategy across a wide range of factual genes that will both engage current audiences and reach out to new viewers. Ed will bring a fresh voice, unique vision and unbridled energy to commissioning content that resonates around the globe. Between his deep relationships in the production community and his keen eye for spotting new and emerging talent, Ed is a storyteller like no other.”

Sayer was most recently at National Geographic, where he commissioned and executive produced some of the channels most recent successes – including Science of Stupid, Ultimate Airport Dubai, Air Crash Investigation and T.rex Autopsy. At ITV Studios, he created and looked after some of their biggest series including Cops With Cameras, Britain’s Best Dish and Best Dish: The Chefs.  As a BBC Development Exec and then Head of Entertainment Development at BBC Scotland, Sayer helped develop shows such as Young Doctors as well as several game shows and single documentaries for the network.

“Discovery’s brand is iconic, and it’s with a healthy dose of humility and excitement I join the team that’s behind many amazing television milestones,” Sayer said in a statement. “I’m looking forward to partnering with Phil Craig and Discovery’s worldwide and world-class producers to make noise and great television.”

BBC Worldwide will use the BitTorrent Bundle platform to sell “selected highlights” from the last ten years of Doctor Who for $12.

The bundle will feature 10 episodes from the 2005-2014 portion of the show’s run, as well as a five-episode “An Introduction to New Who” (with introductions from Peter Capaldi, the actor currently playing the role of the Doctor), and two additional features – Earth Conquest (a TV movie from 2014), and the original script (in PDF) of Rose, the opening episode of the first series of the revived version of the series. The bundle also offers two free streams/downloads --The Decade of Doctor Who, and a preview of the Rose episode.

BitTorrent Bundle is a global platform that uses the company's file-sharing technology to enable content owners to upload their content and offer it as they see fit – for free or for a price.

“This innovative deal with BitTorrent allows us to directly reach a huge number of consumers and engage with fans on a global and fast-growing digital platform,” Julia Kenyon, director of Drama Brands for BBC Worldwide, said in a statement. “Music content has seen tremendous success through BitTorrent Bundle, and this deal is the first of its kind for British TV content.”

“This is an exciting way for fans to celebrate ten years of New Who, and we are honored to welcome the good Doctor to BitTorrent Bundle,” added Matt Mason, BitTorrent’s chief content officer.

Among recent activity, Mance Media has begun to offer trailers and full-length movies in 4K via BitTorrent Bundle.  BitTorrent will also use the platform to underpin its  expansion into original content.

BBC America's award-winning sci-fi series, Orphan Black, has been set in motion for the third season.

Production on the new campaign, which promises to spin out action-packed cloning drama, stemming from the season-two cliffhanger finale, is underway,

“Season two of Orphan Black not only doubled its audience, it also treated fans to double the number of clones,” Perry Simon, General Manager, BBC America said in a release. “Our network’s commitment to creating long-lasting original programming that hooks viewers and never lets them go is perfectly illustrated through this buzz-worthy series.”

The drama is produced by Temple Street Productions in connection with BBC America and Bell Media’s Space.

Season three reveals new male clones, enemies and allies, testing once strong relationships between characters Sarah, Cosima, Alison and Helena, played by Tatiana Maslany.

Maslany takes on two additional roles this season, and has received two Critics’ Choice awards as well as a Golden Globe nomination along the way.

Ari Millen returns with Jordan Gavaris, Dylan Bruce, Maria Doyle Kennedy, Evelyne Brochu, Kevin Hanchard, Michiel Huisman, Skyler Wexler, Zoé De Grand Maison and more.

For more information about Orphan Black, click here.

Discovery Channel and BBC will co-produce the documentary, Last Tiger Standing, where scientists track one of the rarest animals through Siberia.

The one-hour show will air on September 25 at 10 p.m. ET, after Tigress Blood at 9 p.m.

Biologist Liz Bonnin and a team of experts set out in the winter forests of Russia, where scientists say about 300-350 of these tigers stay in the wild. The team is in high hope to find and eventually sh these Siberian tigers.

In efforts to protect them from poachers, these scientists rescue three orphaned cubs and seek to enforce a rescue mission in the process.  

For over 50 years, The BBC Natural Unit have created these types of specials, but this is the first time they will have filmed the Siberian tiger.