EXCLUSIVE: Netflix will become the U.S. streaming home of Fox’s breakout medical drama Doc. In a competitive situation, the streamer has landed the domestic library rights to the series starring Molly Parker, whose second season is set to premiere on Fox Sept. 23.
Season 1 will become available on Netflix the same day, Sept. 23, as it comes off Hulu. Under Fox’s deal with Hulu, the Disney streamer has in-season rights to all Fox series, getting new episodes the day after they premiere on the broadcast network and Fox One. As part of that agreement, Season 2 episodes of Doc will begin streaming on Hulu Sept. 24 with the season premiere.
It is unclear whether Hulu made a play for past seasons of Doc, which was among Fox’s strongest performers on the platform last season, averaging 2.7 million viewers.
Overall, the season averaged 8.2 million total multi-platform viewers, the largest audience of any Fox series this season, with the opening episode amassing 18.4 million viewers across platforms, Fox’s biggest series premiere in more than five years. Cumulatively, S1’s tally stands at more than 42 million multi-platform viewers, ranking as Fox’s fastest-growing show in more than ten years..
Hot freshman series with this caliber of performance don’t often become available as TV industry’s new deal framework keeps series within the corporate ecosystem with a pipeline to the sibling streamer.
Doc is unusual as it is co-produced by Sony Pictures Television (lead) and Fox Entertainment, none of which is aligned with an established general entertainment streaming platform, putting Doc in play.
It is reminiscent of the competitive marketplace and big streaming deals for breakout broadcast hits of the past, including NBC’s The Blacklist, also produced by Sony TV, which in 2014 landed a rich pact at Netflix pegged at $2M an episode.
It makes sense for Netflix to go aggressively after Doc as it is a type of show the streamer has been after. Launching a medical procedural with serialized elements, including a romance, has been a big priority there. Netflix tried filling that spot with original drama Pulse earlier this year, which was canceled after one season.
Doc Season 1 centers on the hard-charging, brilliant Dr. Amy Larsen (Parker), Chief of Internal Medicine at Westside Hospital in Minneapolis. After a brain injury erases the last eight years of her life, Amy must navigate an unfamiliar world where she has no recollection of patients she’s treated, colleagues she’s crossed, the man she loves, or the tragedy that caused her to push everyone away.
The season finale set up a love triangle for Amy with her ex-husband Omar Metwally (Dr. Michael Hamda) and recent flame Jon Ecker (Dr. Jake Heller). The Season 1 cast also includes series regulars Amirah Vann (Dr. Gina Walker) and Anya Banerjee (Dr. Sonya Maitra) and recurring Scott Wolf (Dr. Richard Miller), Patrick Walker (Dr. TJ Coleman) and Charlotte Fountain-Jardim (Katie Hamda). Barbie Kligman served as executive producer and showrunner. Hank Steinberg, Erwin Stoff, Russell Fine, John Weber, Frank Siracua and writer Judith McCreary served as executive producers.
Joining the cast for Season 2 as a series regular is Felicity Huffman as Dr. Joan Ridley, with Emma Pfizer Price as new recurring and Kligman and Steinberg as co-showrunners.
Doc is based on the Italian series Nelle tue mani, which was created and is produced by Lux Vide, a Fremantle Company. SPT distributes the series globally.
