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?
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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).
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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.
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…