excluding Australia too I imagine? At least for 1st run. If not, the ABC are gonna be pissed… 
BBC America confirmed they’ve lost the rights, so can only assume so has the ABC
Easier for BBC to take it off themselves (basically) and BBC America wouldn’t have had life of series right from the beginning (well they didn’t exist at the start) like I believe ABC would/has. This might end up something like those early Netflix series that were sold to Foxtel - simultaneous ‘airing’ 
edit - It was safe before but will it be now? Has the ABC been blindsided again by the BBC? 
Not sure they will be. The new episodes of Dr Who only screened on iview and ABC TV Plus recently and the ratings are low these days. It’s probably doing alright for them in the repeat runs since they keep screening it over and over, so they will probably be satisfied if they just have the 2nd run.
Not really a big surprise. This was obviously going to happen when BBC announced the deal with Disney earlier in the year.
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ABC statement on Doctor Who
After a long friendship, spanning more than 50 years, the universe has called the Doctor in a different direction and Doctor Who will no longer appear on the ABC beyond the current season.
The BBC has today announced a new partnership with Disney+ to continue the series.
ABC audiences can currently enjoy past seasons of Doctor Who, including the recent Centenary Special, on ABC iview.
We are incredibly grateful to the generations of Whovians who have enjoyed Doctor Who with us on the ABC.
Everyone at the ABC wishes the Doctor well on their adventures and we hope the Time Lord will visit us again at some stage in the future.
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I don’t think there is much mainstream support for the series anymore anyway, my understanding is that ratings are down sharply so it is good the ABC will be able to reinvest the no-doubt inflated rights money they were spending on other content. And people said they were struggling for money… I remember looking at DVD prices for the series, even they were very overpriced, no doubt BBC seeing at as just a money spinner.
I myself have not watched one minute of the series since around the end of Capaldi’s run, and even then I nearly dropped it during the later stage of Smith’s run, only just hung on. It is just not the same as the initial Eccleston/Tennant years when I enjoyed watching each episode.
The wording of the BBC press release suggests the new Disney+ deal starts next year with the three specials with David Tennant returning as the Doctor.
The upside of the deal is that it opens new markets for Doctor Who including countries which have never shown it before.
It is certainly the end of an era for Doctor Who on Australian TV. Many Aussies grew up watching the sci-fi series on the ABC and I doubt many of them will want to subscribe to Disney+ to keep watching. The BBC and Disney will need to be careful with their promotions and programming so as not to incur the wrath of the loyal fanbase here.
Well, Tennant is back next year so you will have to start watching again. 
What do you mean?
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It’s not just Australia where ratings are well down. In the UK interest in the show has waned. The new batch of viewers that was gained with the 2005 “relaunch” has lost interest. Mainly thanks to the producers seeming to run out of ideas; so many repeated tropes; repeating storylines etc. Just look at the last episode - Daleks, Cybermen and The Master!
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its also beacuse they are going to this 3 or 4 eps a year thing thats actually hurting it. when i was growing up, the whole family would crowd around the TV at 6:30 on a saturday night to see the latest adventures of the doctor and Ace. now only the hardcore fans are tuning in - casuals don’t even know its on.
better to have 13 ok eps a year with the consistency of being on each week than 3 or 4 great eps scattered though the year
Crossover with Disney or Marvel franchises? You never know.
Ah right. Yeah, good point.
wonder if disney+ will start censoring episodes like they have done for bluey
That will be another point of concern.
By the time Sylvester McCoy took over as the Seventh Doctor, they were doing just 4 stories per season.
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