After two seasons, Disney has pulled the plug on its modern reboot of Doctor Who, which it had produced in partnership with the BBC, according to Deadline. Sources say that top executives at Disney had been mild on the series for at least a year.

According to Deadline, many people close to the series and inside Disney said that the show has effectively been doomed from the start due to Disney’s general lack of interest.

“It was pretty apparent from early on that this wasn’t for the long term,” a former Disney executive told Deadline. “Everyone got the impression that it wasn’t doing what it needed to do [on Disney+] to be sustained.” Another person close to Doctor Who added: “The writing has been on the wall for ages. There has been a complete lack of enthusiasm over at Disney.”

At the time of the reboot’s announcement in October 2022, streaming companies were willing to spend almost any amount to get a leg up on their rivals, and Disney had a large cash pile. According to Deadline, the show’s budget per episode could have been as high as £8 million, putting the total value of the partnership at around £168 million. However, Disney’s on-again-off-again CEO Bob Iger soon rolled back much of the spending that made the show possible, endangering its future.

Other Disney employees have noted that the series had failed to break through to American viewers due to a lack of marketing on Disney’s behalf. “It certainly wasn’t being shouted about as a big success,” adds a Disney employee via Deadline. Meanwhile, a BBC executive said that “it never felt like Disney were making much of a deal” about the classic sci-fi series, which has been airing for over 60 years.

For Doctor Who fans and newcomers alike, the lack of commitment to the series made it difficult to connect with Ncuti Gatwa’s (Barbie, Sex Education) iteration of the doctor, especially after Gatwa left after his second season. “A lack of episodes made it difficult for audiences to get to know Ncuti and his companions to really develop their storylines,” Tony Jordan, organizer behind the Doctor Who Appreciation Society, told Deadline.

Others blamed Gatwa more directly, with one Doctor Who team member saying “There is more to that role than performing … you have got to be an ambassador for the brand and embrace being that generation’s Doctor. Matt Smith and David Tennant fully understood the responsibility it carried.” According to Deadline, the 33-year-old Gatwa cited burnout in his leaving the show.

Still others say that showrunner Russell T Davies’ (Torchwood, It’s a Sin) efforts to promote diversity on the show ran afoul of MAGA activitists in the U.S., Deadline reports. The show features both transgender actress Yasmin Finney (Heartstopper, LifeHack) and drag queen Jinkx Monsoon (Happiest Season, Blame the Hero), and even displayed a historic gay kiss between Gatwa and Jonathan Groff. Ultimately, one industry source said that the show might have proved “too woke for Trump’s USA.”