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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 🤷
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.
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 🤷
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.