Doctor Who writer speaks of ‘too many streamers and too much money’
Doctor Who writer Russell T Davies predicted the demise of streamers as he considered the future of television in an interview on Radio 4’s Today programme.
The writer, who was on the radio programme to promote the upcoming Doctor Who Christmas special, turned to the subject of streamers and declared that “surely this is a South Sea Bubble”.
The South Sea Bubble was Britain’s first financial stock market crash and a major event of the early Georgian period, resulting from the financial collapse of the South Sea Company in 1720.
Davies went on to say that there are “too many streamers and too much money, not everyone is watching these things, it can’t be financially viable.”
He continued: “I kind of hope it does pop, so we can go back to making those 8pm and 9pm dramas about say, a bunch of British lawyers or a health centre”. Davies said he hoped that this would pave the way for new training grounds for writers, directors and other TV creators in dramas that “don’t cost a fortune but teach people how to make TV.”
Davies rejoined the long-running sci-fi drama Doctor Who as a writer in 2023 after Disney+ had joined forces with the BBC, giving the show a major funding boost and streaming the UK series globally.
“The BBC made a move to go to a streamer” Davies told listeners. “[The BBC] thought the show deserved to look as good as Stranger Things or Star Wars [the series], why should we be the humble show being made in a shoe cupboard? That’s the way everything is heading.”
He added that additional investment from the US or streamers was “nothing new” and emphasised that the UK-produced series has entirely British crews and writers. He said that he didn’t know how the BBC would have afforded the festive special without the funding boost.
Davies did add that while the sci-fi series had received a cash injection, it was still not as lavish as other dramas, pointing to Sky series The Day of the Jackal which he said had 500 extras in its first episode. “I just think, how do you keep up with this?” he said.
Looking to the future of Doctor Who, Davies insisted that no decision had been made as to a third series of the Disney/BBC deal, saying “the BBC will decide its future.”
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