As the East Coast of America reels from a staggering 25+ inches of snow, bad news of a different sort has arrived to further crush American spirits.
US Netflix will lose all seasons of Doctor Who on 1 February.
Rumours had been swirling for some time about this horrible loss, and Netflix confirmed the news on Twitter on 26 January. Netflix US will be dropping all seasons of the Classic Doctor Who and the rebooted Doctor Who, seasons 1-9.
Netflix US had been streaming both classic and new Doctor Who episodes for several years. It was an easy, convenient way to not only binge watch but also to learn about the history of the show. The classic Doctor Who is difficult to find, short of buying loads of old DVDs that are not always compatible with US players. Americans are newer to the Doctor Who franchise, and many of the older Doctors and storylines are not as familiar to us. Netflix made it easy to research the backstory of the Cybermen, for example, or watch the brilliant original Dalek episodes. So losing the classic Doctor Who on Netflix is like losing a library. Eighteen seasons will vanish in America.
Reaction to the news in America was swift and angry. Many took to Twitter to announce they would drop Netflix, and many others posted petitions.
Doctor Who will stay on Netflix in the UK and other countries.
UPDATE: A further US streaming service – Hulu have also confirmed that they no longer have the rights to stream Doctor Who
What? No! I just started Classic Who on Hulu this past week! Netflix didn’t have 18 season of classic Who, just 18 different serials. NOOOOOO, I don’t have enough time to watch everything!,!,!,,skcidjfkfovkcjcjjxxnxn
Doctor Who is available on your tv. The free, over-the-air HD channel Retro TV has Classic Who on Saturdays and Sundays starting at 7pm Eastern.
“The classic Doctor Who is difficult to find, short of buying loads of old DVDs that are not always compatible with US players.”
The entire classic series was released on R1 DVD and is currently available on Hulu.
As someone who watches almost all the Doctor Who I watch on Netflix, and who subscribed to Hulu because of their classic Who selection I am really sad about this. I understand that the bbc wants to promote their bbc store service. But I live in the US and don’t have access to their library. Does anyone know if there are plans to make the bbc store accessible to people outside the UK? I’m guessing that there is probably a lot more at play than meets the eye but it’s still a bummer.