Doctor Who is the longest-running sci-fi series, but you don’t survive 63 years on TV without a few obstacles along the way. Depending on how you count, there have been at least 14 different actors take on the role of The Doctor, one TV movie reboot, 26 seasons of the classic show, 15 seasons of the reboot show, at least four spinoff series, and multiple hiatuses — including a Who-less dry spell that we’re all currently experiencing.
In the UK, all the episodes are streaming on BBC iPlayer. But if you’re outside of Great Britain and are a new Whovian or just an old one looking to brush up on the franchise, you may be confused by the multiple streaming services where you can find various eras of Doctor Who. Here’s your guide to every era of the series and where you can find it in the US, from the free streamers to the failed experiments.
1963-1989: The Classic Doctor Who Era
The first era of Doctor Who was much lower budget and a bit goofier.
Larry Ellis Collection/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
From the show’s humble beginnings as a time-travel children’s show in November of 1963, Doctor Who evolved into a British institution over the decades. It’s in this era that it was established that each regeneration of the Doctor had his own distinct personality: the First Doctor was a kindly grandfather type, the Third Doctor rode around in a yellow car named Bessie, and the Fourth Doctor had a penchant for long scarves and Jelly Babies.
If you want to watch the adventures of the first seven doctors, you can find selections from each of their eras on Tubi. While this is exciting because Tubi is a free ad-supported streamer, meaning there’s no paywall to get started, you won’t find every episode here. In fact, you won’t find every episode anywhere, as a number of early episodes were taped over and are now considered lost media.
Alternatively, if you aren’t a fan of being interrupted by commercials (as the original episodes didn’t have commercial breaks when they were originally aired), you can also stream these episodes on BritBox, but that will require a subscription.
Doctor Who, 1963-1989, spanning the 1st through 7th Doctor, streams on BritBox and Tubi.
1996: The TV Movie
Paul McGann briefly played the Doctor in the 1996 Doctor Who TV movie.
Royal Mail/Shutterstock
After seven years off the air, Doctor Who returned with a TV movie showing the Eighth Doctor, played by Paul McGann, as he lands in San Francisco. This movie was meant to be a backdoor pilot for a new American-produced reboot of the series, but that obviously didn’t pan out.
Unfortunately, due to rights issues, there is currently no legal way to stream this movie, but if you’re open to physical media, you can pick up a DVD of the movie and watch it that way — just make sure it’s Region 1!
2005 – 2022: The Doctor Who Reboot Era
The 2005 reboot began with Christopher Eccleston as the 9th Doctor, and by 2018, saw Jodie Whittaker play the 13th Doctor, the first on-screen female version of the Time Lord.
BBC Studios
In 2005, Russell T. Davies rebooted Doctor Who with a new look and format. Instead of multi-episode serials, this version of Doctor Who consisted of much more viewer-friendly “adventure of the week” stories, and the budget was also increased. The next five Doctors — Christopher Eccleston, David Tennant, Matt Smith, Peter Capaldi, and Jodie Whittaker — carried Doctor Who through its next Golden Age. This is the era of the massive 50th anniversary, the acclaimed episode “Blink,” and the fandom furor that was “SuperWhoLock.”
If you want to check out this era of Doctor Who, you’ll have to subscribe to AMC+, which has all thirteen series, plus all the specials that aired during the holiday season. If you’re looking to get into Doctor Who for the first time, this is definitely the best place to start.
Doctor Who Season 1 (2005) to Season 13 (2022), including all the specials during this era, currently streams on AMC+.
2023-2025: Doctor Who’s The Disney Era
Ncuti Gatwa was the latest Doctor, but the future of the show remains uncertain.
Disney+
In 2023, ahead of Doctor Who’s 60th anniversary, Disney struck a deal with the BBC to co-produce a new reboot of the series, beginning again with Season 1, a new Doctor in Ncuti Gatwa, and the return of showrunner Russell T. Davies. But before the new season, we got three anniversary specials which brought back David Tennant and Catherine Tate and piled on a hefty budget. This new era is now streaming on Disney+.
Unfortunately, after two seasons, Gatwa left the role of the Doctor, and Disney chose not to renew its contract with the BBC. Now, the series has been put out to tender by the BBC, meaning pitches for new takes on the show are now being considered. So while we may not know where Doctor Who will go next, we at least can go back and reflect on the story so far, even if that means accessing three different streaming services.
Doctor Who’s 2023 specials, starring David Tennant, “The Star Beast,” “Wild Blue Yonder,” and “The Giggle,” stream on Disney+. The 2024 and 2025 rebooted Seasons 1 and 2, starring Ncuti Gatwa as the Doctor, also stream on Disney+.
Where to stream Torchwood, The Sarah Jane Adventures, and the other Whoinvesre spinoffs
Eve Myles as Gwen Cooper in Torchwood.
Shutterstock
Doctor Who has always suggested a larger univesre than just the lone quirky Time Lord in the blue box. As such, over the years, there have been a handful of Who spinoffs, some with more staying power than others.
The first spinoff that really tried to take off was called K-9 and Company, which focused on former Who companion Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) and the titular robot dog, K-9. In 1981, only a pilot episode was produced of this proposed series, which you can watch on YouTube.
The more famous spinoffs come from the first Russell T. Davies Who era, specifically the gritty alien hunter show, Torchwood, and the more kid-friendly series The Sarah Jane Adventures, in which Sladen finally did get her own show. Torchwood ran from 2006 to 2011, for four seasons, though seasons 3 and 4 were more like self-contained miniseries. The Sarah Jane Adventures ran for five seasons from 2008 to 2011. That show currently streams on Netflix. Torchwood can be rented episode-by-episode on Prime Video, Apple TV and elsewhere.
Then there’s the short-lived 2016 spinoff Class, which focused on wild happenings at the Coal Hill School, a major fixture of the Whoinverse since its debut in 1963. Class only lasted for one season and was cancelled after its initial run. Class streams on Tubi.
One of the odder Who spinoffs is a series just called K-9, which was not produced by the BBC, but instead was made in Australia, and largely avoided the canon of the rest of the Whoinverse.
The most recent Who spinoff was called The War Between the Land and the Sea, a series about the organization known as UNIT dealing with the water-dwelling versions of the Silurians, sometimes known as the Sea Devils. Despite being released in the UK, and scheduled to hit Disney+, this show has yet to stream in the US.
