this post was submitted on 15 Apr 2026
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The BBC is planning to cut approximately 2,000 jobs over the next two years. Does that add pressure to find a Doctor Who production partner?

<snip>

To add some perspective, the BBC had 21,508 employees in 2025 – the cuts would equate to losing one in every 10 employees across the multimedia company (and also the largest number of layoffs by the BBC in 15 years).

<snip>

We know that the BBC, BBC Studios, and Bad Wolf have gone on the record to reassure fans that the series isn't going anywhere, but does today's news of layoffs add more fuel to the fire when it comes to a new production partner? The previous debate was whether the show needed to have a big budget and big effects to succeed. Now, is it more about bringing on another producer to keep it at the level it was at when the show returned.

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[–] cerebralhawks@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 17 hours ago (3 children)

Dr Who prints money and the BBC releases seasons every few years. Granted not every season has been great (IMO Nine, Ten, and Eleven had the best runs of NuWho) but the cool thing about the show is, pretty much every Doctor has fans. So I can say Ten was the best Doctor, but if someone says it's Four or Twelve, they're not wrong, though I didn't like Capaldi's (Twelve's) run — I think the actor was perfectly capable and had his own image for the Time Lord (especially when he had that guitar), but the writing was weak. Same with Thirteen: I loved Whitaker's work on Broadchurch (not just because Tennant was in it), but on Dr Who, she felt like a recycled Ten. But either way the show has always had loud and very vocal fans, and rightly so. It's just been poorly managed.

Okay, so, for example... what's the best Dr Who video game? Valid answers are "there isn't one" and "Fallout: New Vegas." The latter had nothing to do with Dr Who, but a mod is available that gives you a TARDIS that you can use to teleport all over the map (and use it as a player home). No time travel, but you can use it for spatial travel. It's a gimmick, but it kind of makes the western action RPG into a Dr Who game. We've never had a Dr Who game that is better than the Dr Who elements of the Fallout New Vegas mod. To be clear, I'm not saying no Dr Who game is better than Fallout New Vegas. Most games aren't better than Fallout New Vegas. What I'm saying is, no Dr Who game is better than that TARDIS mod, which is just a player home and a cheap gimmick for getting around the map.

And movies! The 1996 Dr Who movie was a great 1980s movie... but it came out in 1996, and not to theatres, at least not that I recall. It's a fun movie, but... why haven't they made another movie since? Especially in the Tennant/Davies era where everything lined up?

And call me crazy, but I'd like to see a lower-budget Dr Who. Not because they can't afford it, but because it's never needed to be pretty. Good acting and good writing is all it ever needed. Look at Blink, it's one of the best episodes, despite featuring the Doctor as a side character (also called a Doctor-Lite episode). The Weeping Angels are just people in costumes who never move on camera. It's all practical effects. The only special effects you really had were screen fades and TARDIS stuff. Or The Girl in the Fireplace. Other than those clockwork things, it was just Tennant's wild acting and gorgeous sets, and a story that sticks with you. Midnight, my third favourite Dr Who episode, perfect example of "tell, don't show". I vaguely remember they showed the monster, but mostly you just heard it. They had to repurpose a subway car or a bus for the set, but other than that, it was largely just acting and writing.

[–] zabadoh@ani.social 2 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

Dr Who prints money

But the BBC is a lot more programming and news than just Dr Who.

To understand why BBC is losing money, you have to understand that it's mostly funded by annoying "television license fees" paid by UK residents.

In the last 20+ years, the number of televisions and radios taxed by the UK government has decreased as more video and audio entertainment has moved to computers and mobile devices.

This is while living and production costs have risen.

[–] haverholm@kbin.earth 1 points 5 hours ago

Yeah, I can't say I'm a big economics nerd, but there have been signs for years that the BBC has struggled financially. And although some prefer to see that in isolation from specific programmes (or just ignore it), it's clear with the shift toward co-productions that the license fees alone can't carry big costume or effects-laden productions.

Also, the relative freedom of production within a public funded broadcaster has given us the rich and weird Doctor Who lore that we have —and that's even disregarding the extended universe of Big Finish and novel ranges. I couldn't imagine quite the same emerging within a fully commercial framework... even though we are posting this to a startrek.website community 🙂

[–] Lumidaub@feddit.org 3 points 17 hours ago

a mod is available that gives you a TARDIS

... OH SHI-

(°ヮ° )

[–] haverholm@kbin.earth 2 points 16 hours ago

Dr Who prints money

That was ten years ago or more. I've quite enjoyed most of what's come out since '05 — excepting single episodes rather than whole seasons or lead actors — but if the show was such a moneymaker, we wouldn't be in the uncertain situation we are now. Looks like Tennant and Smith were its commercial peak.

I don't want to be all doom and gloom about this, but the writing on the wall is, BBC couldn't afford to make Doctor Who on their own when they made the Disney deal. They can afford it even less now that they're going to lay off one in ten employees. And from what I can glean people have been to busy clinging to their positions — understandably — to try and get a new funding partner on board.

So right now, "new seasons every few years" sounds a bit optimistic. And yeah, there's going to be a lot more bubble wrap effects than we've gotten used to...

[–] Lumidaub@feddit.org 4 points 18 hours ago (2 children)

Huh. I did not realise the BBC did nothing but Doctor Who and everything they do was about Doctor Who.

Bending over backwards to create fandom drama from something entirely unrelated to the fandom, very cool.

[–] ValueSubtracted@startrek.website 2 points 15 hours ago

I agree that it's mainly BBC news (not to be confused with BBC News), but it's perfectly reasonable for a DW fan to wonder what, if anything, it could mean for the show - especially when the future is so murky.

I do believe the show will be fine, but shit is messy right now.

[–] haverholm@kbin.earth 1 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

Read it anyway you want, BBC do in fact produce Doctor Who along with loads of other programming.

And Who is a costly show that in 2026 needs external funding, like the short lived Disney+ distribution deal that ended last year. And it appears there haven't been made formal overtures to find new partners.

So you'll excuse me if I find it relevant, and rather more than "creating fandom drama", to realistically tie the Beeb's dire finances in with the show's future.

[–] Lumidaub@feddit.org 1 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

loads of other programming

That's the point. They do all kinds of other stuff and it is entirely unnecessary to single out one show as "feeling the heat". The fandom has enough people creating drama from nothing and HOPING the show gets cancelled, just to be proven correct.

[–] haverholm@kbin.earth 1 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

Well, I'm not particularly worried about fandoms, although they do seem as tenacious as bedbug infestations. I care more about the show in question. Hence the update about the broadcaster that produces it 🤷

[–] Lumidaub@feddit.org 1 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

I am worried about the fandom (which you don't seem to consider yourself part of? curious) and in this here context in which we find ourselves in I don't care about things that aren't directly related to the show. Many people are deeply affected by the uncertainty around the show and I try to point out when something reeks of artificial drama meant to rile them up with nothing. But please, do continue be invested in the minutiae of human resources at a broadcaster.

[–] haverholm@kbin.earth 1 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

Do you understand that "the minutiae of human resources" at the BBC are anything but artificially generated to spoil anybody's day? Feel free to delude yourself this won't affect future production of Doctor Who.

I get it. You're worried, I'm worried. I just don't stick my head in the sand about circumstances that in a very real way will affect the show's future, or presume to speak for anybody but myself 🤷

[–] Lumidaub@feddit.org 1 points 16 hours ago* (last edited 16 hours ago)

Goodness gracious. Of course it is in principle interesting if they're laying of a bunch of people. The article's headline however draws a direct line between these lay-offs and Doctor Who, implying either that this means it's getting cancelled or that the show is somehow to blame. This is not a new phenomenon, articles like this are posted every day and it's always click-bait and it's hurting the fandom because people who find joy in (creating) fandom drama share them and gleefully watch fans be anxious over their favourite show. It fucking sucks.