Despite assembling its largest Doctor Who library to celebrate its 60th anniversary, the BBC are set to remove several classic-era stories from its streaming library. As part of the show’s milestone celebrations in 2023, the corporation set out to host nearly the entirety of the franchise on the IPlayer platform, from the classic era to the modern revival, to other spin-offs and documentaries. Alongside hosting nearly the entirety of the series from 1963 to Doctor Who season 14, the IPlayer would soon become home to several exclusive documentaries and behind-the-scenes series.
Just over a year after the BBC brought all available Doctor Who media onto its platform, RadioTimes reports that two stories have been removed from the IPlayer platform. “Terror of the Zygons” and “The Seeds of Doom” have been removed from the service, leaving Tom Baker’s Fourth Doctor’s season 13 adventures incomplete. While no official announcement or explanation was given ahead of the removal, the BBC would later issue a statement highlighting that the rest of the catalog that they still had secured the rights to host would remain on the service:
The Whoniverse contains over 800 hours of Doctor Who content, making it the biggest collection of Doctor Who programming in one place, which includes all episodes that we have the rights to.
What Does Doctor Who’s Sudden IPlayer Removals Mean For The Series’ Streaming Future
Past Commissioning Practices Make Doctor Who’s Catalog Of Characters Complicated
Due to the nature of how Doctor Who was written throughout its classic era, there are several classic characters and monsters that the BBC does not outright own. In several cases, writers retained the copyright over their characters, as opposed to other franchises such as Star Wars and Marvel, where the rights are with the company themselves. Not only has this left the BBC having to renegotiate for the use of certain characters, as well as hosting certain stories, but has in the past allowed these writers to develop their own projects with the characters.
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While the removal of “Terror of the Zygons” and “The Seeds of Doom”, both written by Robert Banks Stewart, may leave some viewers disappointed, it is likely a matter of time until the stories find themselves back. Big Finish’s Doctor Who audio drama range lost the rights to host Zygon-centered stories in 2022 briefly, but not only are the productions available once more following negotiations with Banks Stewart’s estate, but a new line focused on the aliens is in development. As such, it is likely the BBC will also have to renegotiate to host the episodes.
Our Thoughts On The Fourth Doctor’s Adventures’ Sudden Removal
The Writer’s Estate Is Open To Renegotiating
Though the BBC bringing together most of Doctor Who‘s available catalog on their service was a major milestone for the franchise, it also led to an event that highlighted the complications surrounding the show’s rights. Currently, the platform is unable to host the series’ very first episode, “An Unearthly Child”, due to the interventions of writer Anthony Coburn’s son, Stef Coburn, who claimed he holds the licensing rights and withdrew them due to his own bigoted views as the show cast people of color and LGBTQ+ performers in leading roles.
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Despite the fears that the two Baker stories removals may lead to a similar absence from the IPlayer library, the past has fortunately shown that the Banks Stewart estate is more than happy to allow the use of their characters so long as the proper permissions and credits are given. As such, it may only be a matter of time until fans can enjoy the first Doctor Who adventure with the Zygons on IPlayer once more.
