Opinion: Should Doctor Who get a Netflix for a spin off?
BBC, Doctor Who
We talk a lot about Doctor Who spin-offs. Which direction should they take, who should they follow, even what rating they should be. But we never talk about where the spin-off should take place.
In order to get back to the ratings that we saw in early New Series, we would have to present something to Netflix. Everyone has it, and it reaches a capacity of people that watch Doctor Who reaches right now.
With the success of Stranger Things and other Netflix shows, it’s possible that teaming up with Netflix is the best thing the show could do. The spin-off could be towards children or adults, and it would give them an endless amount of ideas without worrying about the ratings. Higher rating Torchwood? Got it! Kids program? No problem!
If there’s any chance that BBC and Netflix could work together, it could take Doctor Who from BBC cult following to something on the tails of Stranger Things. Scariness wouldn’t be a problem, nor would be keeping up with what’s politically correct. Generally, people who watch Netflix television shows know what they signed on for.
What’s the issue?
As I’m sure you’ve heard, the BBC is a little protective of Doctor Who. They actually dropped many popular BBC shows a couple of years ago to “launch their own streaming service” (quotations because that hasn’t happened). This alleged streaming service was going to give Americans the opportunity to stream Doctor Who, Sherlock, Top Gear, and other shows.
Or, BBC, you could just give us access to the iPlayer, I’m just saying.
Since the idea to take off all Classic Who, Torchwood, Doctor Who, and other shows specifically related to that genre — Sherlock is still available –the idea of a spin-off would probably take a lot of negotiations. But it wouldn’t be the first British show Netflix has done, specifically the Crown with Matt Smith.
Also, currently the only way to watch Doctor Who is through Amazon Prime video, which you can get on its own for $8.99 in the US.