Netflix gave Doctor Who fans some bad news when it announced that the popular science fiction series would leave its service in February.
However, there is some good news, at least for Doctor Who fans in the U.K.: that country's Netflix will continue to have episodes available for viewing.
That's little consolation for U.S. fans, but that means that Netflix worked out licensing issues with the BBC for the series in at least one country. Hopefully, that means they'll work out the licensing with the BBC for the show on its service in the U.S.
Netflix answered questions from Who fans on Twitter about the series leaving its service in the U.S., but confirmed that U.K. fans would still have access to the show.
@DrWhoOnline Good and bad news. Doctor Who is staying on @NetflixUK, but our dear Doctor will be departing on Feb 1 from the US. (1 of 2)
— Netflix US (@netflix) January 26, 2016
Netflix also addressed why the series would leave its U.S. service.
@DrWhoOnline Sometimes the licensing for our content will expire & we have to remove it. But we're always happy to work on getting it *JF — Netflix CS (@Netflixhelps) January 26, 2016
It seems that Netflix plans on working with the BBC to bring it back for U.S. fans, so there's always hope that it will return in the future.
However, not all is lost. Doctor Who is still available for U.S. fans on Hulu, which has all episodes of the new series, plus seasons one through eight, as well as many episodes of the classic series. That's 13 Doctors to enjoy, if you also count John Hurt's War Doctor. You can also always purchase episodes from download services such as Amazon Video on Demand and Vudu or purchase them on DVD or Blu-ray.
Something similar happened last year, with Netflix announcing that Doctor Who would leave its service in February 2015. However, the company straightened out the licensing issues with the BBC and renewed it for another year.
