With “Doctor Who” now set to be distributed via Disney+ in global markets, the sci-fi series that’s known for its somewhat homemade-looking aliens is about to get a significant budget boost. Though Davies debunked rumors that the upcoming season could cost as much as $10 million per episode (“It’s absolutely not. I wish it was, it’d make my life easier”), he also told GQ that the Disney funding will allow him to “tell stories on a bigger scale,” and that without the show’s former budget constraints “my imagination feels more free, a lot more free, actually.”
Beyond new monsters and far-flung cosmic horizons, Davies also hopes to once again expand “Doctor Who” into spin-offs along the lines of “Torchwood” and “The Sarah Jane Adventures.” He specifically cited the “Star Trek” franchise, which currently has five ongoing streaming series (“Discovery,” “Picard,” “Strange New Worlds,” “Lower Decks,” and “Prodigy”), as an inspiration:
“I watch the ‘Star Trek’ empire with vast envy: the way that’s turned itself from an old archive show into something fantastic. The cast is so progressive, so good, so beautiful. And very cleverly I think ‘Star Trek’ is reaching out to making something like fifty-two episodes a year. So that’s your yearly show, genius.”
While “Doctor Who” season 14 won’t get underway until 2024, it sounds like Davies already had some big plans in mind when he approached the BBC about returning. “I thought […] it was time for the next stage for Doctor Who,” the showrunner explained. “I thought the streaming platforms are ready, the spin-offs are ready; I always believed in spin-offs when I was there.”