Doctor Who writer Russell T Davies has said on a podcast that the end of the BBC is “undoubtedly on its way.” The 60-year-old oversaw the successful 2005 revival of Doctor Who and recently wrote the highly-acclaimed series, It’s A Sin.
Speaking on the They Like To Watch podcast, Russell said: “You’ve got to look in the long term at the end of the BBC, which is undoubtedly on its way in some shape or form.
“Is Doctor Who going to die then? No! You’ve got to prepare for that kind of stuff. If Disney collapsed tomorrow and we had to go back to making Doctor Who on a normal BBC budget, you know what?
“We’d all rally round and make it and suddenly the stories would become claustrophobic ghost stories. A lot of people would like that very much, so I’m not saying you have to have this happen. But while it’s happening elsewhere, I think it’s unfair that it doesn’t happen to Doctor Who.”
His comments come after Disney’s recent involvement with the new series of Doctor Who. The fantasy drama is available to stream on Disney+ outside the UK.
The BBC fantasy series is set to return for its 14th season in May, with Ncuti Gatwa starting his travels as the Fifteenth Doctor alongside new companion Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson).
Towards the end of last year, the showrunner teased fans by saying that the new series might “annoy” viewers. Russell opened up about how working with Disney gave him a bigger budget to tackle more ambitious storylines.
He explained: “I was just a bit jealous that all those other shows were getting a bigger taste of the pie, so this Christmas, the enemy is goblins.
“The show is taking a sly step towards fantasy, which will annoy people to whom it’s a hard science-fiction show. Episode two next year is wildly fantasy. Completely making up scenarios on screen that we’ve never been able to show before. But the following episode is proper hard science fiction.”
Russell originally oversaw the 2005 revival of Doctor Who before leaving the show in 2009. He was replaced by Steven Moffat, who in turn was succeeded by Chris Chibnall.
His success of Doctor Who’s revival led Russell to create two spin-off shows: Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures. Russell has also been credited working on A Very English Scandal, Years and Years and It’s A Sin.
Doctor Who can be streamed on BBC iPlayer and Disney+.