The Walt Disney Company is facing a major embarrassment amid reports that the iconic British science fiction TV drama “Doctor Who” – which it’s paying $100 million to stream on Disney+ – is on hiatus amid heavy criticism of its “woke” storylines. 

“Doctor Who” has been around since 1963, when, at its peak in the early 1980s, it would frequently draw 13 million viewers per episode. The show was canceled in  1989, then successfully relaunched in 2005 and became one of the world’s most popular television programs. In 2022, the BBC — which produces the show — announced a $100 million deal with Disney to distribute it internationally on Disney+. 

However, ratings for the show have nose dived. On Saturday, just 2.5 million people tuned in, and the deal is shaping up to be another flop for Disney. 

The lead actor, Ncuti Gatwa, is also reportedly leaving the show after just two seasons of playing the mysterious, time-traveling Doctor. The speculation about his future erupted after Mr. Gatwa — who holds firm anti-Israel views — withdrew from presenting the Eurovision jury scores after Israeli singer and October 7 survivor, Yuval Raphael, made the final. 

His decision to withdraw reportedly left executives at the BBC “cross.”

A representative for the BBC told the Daily Mail that the suggestion Mr. Gatwa had been “axed” is pure fiction. 

“As we have previously stated, the decision on season 3 will be made after season 2 airs, and any other claims are just pure speculation. The deal with Disney+ was for 26 episodes – and we still have an entire spin-off, The War Between the Land and the Sea, to air. And as for the rest, we never comment on the Doctor and future storylines,” the spokesman said. 

However, it did not address whether he chose to leave the show. 

Besides the anti-Israel controversy caused by Mr. Gatwa’s decision to withdraw from presenting, he has actively told people not to watch the show if they’re offended by its “woke” storylines.

“ Don’t watch. Turn off the TV,” he said last year. “I feel like anyone that has a problem with someone who’s not a straight white man playing this character, you’re not really, truly a fan of the show.”

For its first 26 years – when the series drew fanatical followers – there was almost no sex in the show. The Doctor, a “Time Lord” who could “regenerate,” thus enabling the show to survive the exit of its lead actor, was always played by a white man and had attractive, young, mostly female assistants in whom he never expressed more than a grandfatherly affection. Indeed, the first three actors who played the Doctor were old men and the first Doctor, played by the actor William Hartnell, was often referred to as “grandfather.”

The relaunched series, however, began delving deeper into sex and gender issues, doubling down as the show became more and more popular. In 2017, a woman – Jodie Whittaker – was cast to play the Doctor, something that was considered sacrilege by some devoted fans. Then in 2022, Mr. Gatwa – a gay, black actor – took over the role, and his Doctor appeared to be gay and, in one episode, passionately kissed a man.

Fans of the show, which is typically geared toward younger audiences,  have expressed disappointment with what they say is its increasingly “woke” content, in particular its approach to gender.  The show has recently featured plots that included non-binary allies, incels, transgender characters and a pregnant male alien. 

In the most recent season, the show brought back one of its iconic villains from the early years, “Davros,” an evil, shriveled and deformed mad scientist who was confined to a high tech wheelchair that kept him alive.  However, the showrunner Russell T. Davies, said he did not like that in the original series, “Davros” was in a wheelchair, as he disliked the idea of a “wheelchair-user who is evil.”

“A lot of us on the production team did too, associating disability with evil,” Mr. Davies said. A new Davros appeared walking upright, and fans were furious.

Some characters have criticized others for “assuming their gender,” and in one episode, the villain was a drag queen.

Amid the criticism of the show and the reported departure of its lead actor, “Doctor Who” is reportedly taking an extended break. Should this be the case, it would recall when “Doctor Who” was famously suspended in 1986 when BBC executives believed it had become too dark and violent. The show, which had originally been conceived as a children’s show that would educate children about science and history, had over two decades evolved into a dark, violent series with sophisticated plots. The final episode prior to the suspension, “Revelation of the Daleks,” which caused a national scandal to due its violence, is ironically today considered by “Doctor Who” purists to be one of series’ all time finest episodes. It also featured Davros using two different life support systems — one in which only his head was visible. He was hardly disabled, however, as he could levitate and torture and kill people by shooter Emperor Palpatine-style energy bolts from his hand.

Fast forward to 2025, when Disney executives have apparently been disappointed by their expensive distribution deal for some time. Last year, Deadline reported that “noises that [the deal] may not last beyond its initial two seasons are already reverberating around international TV circles, and one source close to the production tells us that they feel its future hangs in the balance already.”

A source at Disney told Deadline that the ratings were “okay but not stellar.”

The trouble with “Doctor Who” and speculation that Disney might try to back out of its deal with the BBC comes after the entertainment giant chose to end its “Star Wars” prequel “The Acolyte’ after just one season. 

The show cost an estimated $180 million to make and was heavily criticized for its “woke” storylines. Showrunner Leslye Headland, who is openly gay, observed during an interview with The Wrap in June that “The Acolyte” is the “gayest Star Wars” show. She also said that R2-D2 is a lesbian.

The show’s cast was made up of several actors who identify as LGBTQ+, including Ms. Headland’s wife, Rebecca Henderson, who played a bald, green-skinned alien, and transgender actress Abigail Thorn. 

In terms of its storyline, two episodes were heavily criticized as they focused on a “coven” of women with mystical powers, which critics derided as “lesbian space witches.”

Disney did not respond to the Sun’s request for comment by the time of publication.