BBC Boss Calls AI-Generated ‘Doctor Who’ Episode “Pretty Good,” and Fans Are Not Taking It Well
‘Doctor Who‘ has survived regenerations, cancellations and reboots across more than six decades, but the latest conversation around the series has nothing to do with a new Doctor. Instead, an AI-generated ‘Doctor Who’ episode has landed at the center of a heated debate about where British television is headed, and the comments came from the very top of the BBC.
The timing could hardly be more sensitive. Back in June, the BBC cancelled the ‘Doctor Who’ Christmas special planned for this year and announced it would put the series out to competitive tender. Russell T Davies and Bad Wolf stepped away, leaving the door open for a completely new production team, and this year is set to be the first since 2004 without any new episodes.
Against that backdrop, BBC director-general Matt Brittin took the stage at the Royal Television Society’s London Convention on Monday for a conversation with broadcaster Kirsty Young. That’s where he revealed that someone had recently sent him a full 50-minute episode of ‘Doctor Who’ made entirely with artificial intelligence.
His assessment was blunt. “It’s pretty good,” Brittin said, as first reported by Variety, before quickly stressing that the technology was not going to replace humans and adding that “Not all the creativity is bad.”
Brittin argued that ordinary people now have access to tools capable of producing content at a standard once reserved for major studios. He estimated that roughly 6 billion people now have that capability in their hands.
What Brittin didn’t share is almost as interesting as what he did. He gave no details about who made the episode, whether it used existing ‘Doctor Who’ actors or generated new ones, or how the story played out.
That vagueness has left fans with more questions than answers. It also means nobody outside the BBC boss’s inner circle knows whether the episode borrowed the likenesses of real cast members, which is a major concern in any AI conversation.
Brittin’s openness to the technology isn’t a total shock. He joined the BBC in May after 18 years at Google, and he has been vocal about wanting the broadcaster to experiment with AI.
Just days before the convention, he said on ‘Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg’ that he would allow an AI to present a programme within guardrails. He has consistently framed human creativity as something that should remain central to the organization’s work.
Not everyone is buying the reassurance. Replies to Variety’s post on X quickly filled with criticism, with one user arguing that AI is not creativity and that it is built on the theft of real creators’ work.
That reaction reflects a wider anxiety across the creative industries. For a show so closely tied to its writers, actors and craftspeople, hearing the head of the BBC praise a machine-made episode struck a nerve with many viewers.
The comments also arrive in the middle of a crucial moment for the franchise. The BBC officially opened its tender process on September 17, with a new series planned for transmission in 2028/29.
The tender invites producers to keep the show relevant, surprising, brave and inspiring for longtime fans and newcomers alike. The BBC also encourages innovative approaches to production, world-building and visual effects, a phrase that some fans may now read in a new light.
Pitches close on October 2, interviews are set for January, and the BBC aims to name the winning production company in March. The tender also requires at least one companion character and adventures spanning historical settings, distant futures, alien worlds and contemporary Earth.
Nothing in Brittin’s remarks suggests the BBC plans to replace traditional ‘Doctor Who’ production with AI. Still, his willingness to call a fully synthetic episode “pretty good” ensures the debate will follow the show into its next era. Whoever wins the tender will now inherit a beloved franchise and a very public conversation about technology, creativity and trust.
Would you watch an AI-generated Doctor Who episode?
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