Here's how to watch Doctor Who, the 2024 Christmas Special and the upcoming season 15 online from anywhere. In great news for Whovians, the entire Doctor Who archive is available via BBC iPlayer currently. Yes, you really can watch all the series from William Hartnell's first Time Lord to Ncuti Gatwa's current Doctor. It really is an absolute treasure trove for fans, so what not dive in?!
You can watch Doctor Who episodes for FREE in the UK on the BBC iPlayer streaming service. But don't worry if you're on holiday when you want to watch because you can watch Doctor Who on BBC iPlayer from anywhere with a VPN.
US: Max / Britbox
UK: iPlayer (free with licence fee)
AU: Binge / Foxtel Now / Stan
How to use a VPN to watch any stream
Whoever your Doctor is (Sylvester McCoy for this author!), clear a space behind the sofa and prepare to indulge in pure nostalgia. Or perhaps you're a completist who still has some episodes to tick off the list. And if you're coming to Doctor Who for the first time, there's over 800 episodes to work through...
There's even more coming soon, too, with the 2024 Christmas special "Joy to the World" with Nicola Coughlan releasing on Christmas Day, and season 15 expected to follow in 2025.
In addition to canonical Doctor Who episodes, BBC iPlayer has also added loads more associated programming such as Torchwood, Class, The Sarah Jane Adventures and loads of documentary content, too.
Ready to settle in with K9 and start watching? Here's how to watch Doctor Who from anywhere in the world. We've got all the information you'll need below.
How to watch Doctor Who in the UK for free
How to watch Doctor Who in the US
Things are a little more disjointed for Doctor Who fans in the US. All of the historic episodes are available to watch, but they're spread across two streaming services.
If all you're interested in is the modern era (i.e. 2005/Christopher Eccleston onwards) it's all on HBO's Max streaming service, with plans starting from $9.99 a month.
For everything before that – so the first eight Doctors from 1963 to 1989 – you'll need Britbox. Plans cost $8.99 a month or $89.99 a year. But you also get a free 7-day trial to watch as many episodes as possible in. No time travel required!
Just be aware that all new episodes of Doctor Who from November 2023 onwards are on Disney Plus in the US.
Don't forget that if you're overseas and find geo-restrictions getting in your way, you can use a VPN to virtually relocate back to your home country and watch as if you were back there.
How to watch Doctor Who in Australia
In Australia, you get a choice of streaming services to watch all episodes from 2005 onwards. You can go for Binge, Foxtel Now or Stan.
Each costs around the same and they all have a free trial to take advantage of, too. Binge costs from $10 a month and has a 14-day trial, while Stan also starts from $10 but has a more generous 30-day trial period. You can try Foxtel Now free for 10 days, but it's more expensive thereafter with plans from $25.
Note that all new episodes from November 2023 are exclusively on Disney Plus in Australia.
Unfortunately, the only current way to watch classic Doctor Who (i.e. pre-1990) is to buy or rent them episode-by-episode from places like Amazon Prime Video or Apple TV.
How to watch Doctor Who from anywhere with a VPN
You can watch Doctor Who on any of the streaming services above no matter where you are in the world, and all with one clever little tool. And it's not a sonic screwdriver!
Normally a streaming service will know where you are trying to tune in from and block you if you're not in the right country but a Virtual Private Network (VPN) is an app that hides your location. That means you can access your usual sports and entertainment services even while you're traveling abroad.
Our favorite VPN is NordVPN, which is the no. 1-rated VPN in the world right now according to our sister site, TechRadar.
How to use a VPN to watch any stream
- Download the app at NordVPN
- Choose the location of the streaming service you want to watch (UK, US, etc)
- Navigate to the streaming service and start watching!
Doctor Who: all you need to know
When is the next full series of Doctor Who?
The next series of Doctor Who is planned for 2025. We know it will see Ncuti Gatwa return for his second season as the Doctor, few other details are known yet.
What are the Doctor Who missing episodes?
The so-called "missing episodes" of Doctor Who have taken on an almost mythical status among Whovians. Because the BBC didn't always keep archive programming in the 1960s and 1970s, some episodes were deleted entirely.
There are 97 missing episodes in total. There were originally 156, but a large number of them were 'recovered' from global TV stations and by fans who had recorded them at the time from the the TV.
Many missing episodes have also been reconstructed as animations.
For more information on Doctor Who's missing episodes, click the link for our full explainer.
What is the order of the Doctors?
Who is the current Doctor?
31-year-old Rwandan-Scottish actor Ncuti Gatwa entered the TARDIS for the first time as the 15th Doctor during the 60th anniversary episodes.
Gatwa is best known for his role as Eric Effiong in the Netflix series Sex Education. He also appeared as one of the Kens in 2023's Barbie movie.
Gatwa's companion in season 1 of his reign was Millie Gibson, playing Ruby Sunday. Gibson is best known for award-winning turn as Kelly Neelan in British soap Coronation Street.
Where can I watch old Doctor Who?
As explained above, the whole catalogue of classic Doctor Who episodes (except the very first four) were put on to the BBC iPlayer in the UK in from November 2023.
Around the world, old Doctor Who episodes are generally available for purchase or rental on platforms such as Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV.
Does Netflix have Doctor Who?
Doctor Who seasons used to be available to Netflix subscribers, but they were removed from the streaming giant a few years ago.
What is the best Doctor Who episode
With over 800 episodes (and counting!) of Doctor Who to choose from and with everybody having their own favorite Doctor, picking the best is a virtually impossible task.
But these are the top 10 best Doctor Who episodes according to IMDB:
