Hang on… a gap between March 2027 and sometime 2028/29?
18 months is to long to wait, bring back the Doc don’t hesitate!
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■■■■ it, let’s do season 1 episode count 42 episodes !
But in all honesty I love that they aren’t married to the current media landscape of 5-8 episodes in a season
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Something that is super interesting to consider here - this is by far the most open the show has been to big changes on both the production and narrative side since 2003. Moffat obviously inherited it off RTD after he’d already worked on individual episodes, Chibnall inherited it off him in similar circumstances, and it seems fairly likely RTD inherited it back off Chibnall without much serious consideration of other showrunner candidates or ways of making the show. By definition, the BBC are going to be receiving a huge variety of different ideas for how to make the show here, from a range of different potential partners, and there’s likely to be stuff that never would have been raised if those discussions had solely happened internally or if they’d gone directly back to another previous contributor or production team. I’m really intrigued to see who the winning applicant is and what their vision for the show ends up being once it makes it onscreen. If there’s ever going to be a time to innovate and do something drastically different, it almost has to be now.
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Rereading the ITT again does this mean it’s up to BF to resolve reality war ending lol
keen not to be overly reliant on existing Doctor Who lore.
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We are not necessarily looking to work to a strict showrunner model
That’s fascinating
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For newcomers to the thread, here are some key points I’ve put together reading through most everything up to the General Terms:
- The contract will be to produce Doctor Who for a multi-episodic series (including specials) for transmission in 28/29 with an option to extend the contract at BBC’s discretion to produce a second series.
- The contract is offered on a work-for-hire basis, and all IP remains with the BBC. The BBC prefers a Wales qualification.
- Relevant Production Experience:
- Produced a returning scripted drama series (of at least 6 episodes/parts) for UK Network Television or SVOD that have returned on a regular schedule for at least three series.
- High quality production and editing, including studio and location shooting as well as visual special effects.
- Experience with relevant policy considerations for making programming suitable for broad family audience.
- Understanding of challenges with working with a global brand and collaboration.
- A “deep knowledge of Doctor Who” is a requirement for the short proposal.
- The BBC want the new series to appeal to a broad family audience but deliver “back of the sofa scares, jeopardy and tension”.
- They want production companies to emphasize new monsters, villains, and stories rather than relying too much on existing lore in their pitches, though established villains are welcome to be used.
- Quote: “Doctor Who embraces themes that celebrate curiosity, courage, intelligence, and compassion, themes that interrogate the human condition and most of all, it should and will always be distinctively British storytelling.”
- They are flexible on whether the series is episodic or serialized, as well as the number of episodes in the series.
- They are “not necessarily looking to work to a strict showrunner model and would expect once in production that the series will also use episodic writers”. They do not require writers to be formally attached for the pitch.
- They want the show to feel cinematic and distinctive, capable of competing for audience attention, and encourage “innovative approaches to production, world-building, visual effects, and storytelling that maximize the scale and emotional impact of the Doctor Who universe”.
- Schedule:
- 17 September - Tender issued
- 2 October - Deadline for submission of eligibility
- 23 October - Deadline for short creative proposal
- 6 November - Shortlist is created and tenderers are notified
- December 2026 - Deadline for full tender submissions
- January 2027 - Distribution conversations and interviews with tenderers
- March 2027 - Award given and contract signed
- Evaluation Team
- Lindsay Salt - Commissioning Director, Drama
- Nick Lambon - Commissioning Editor, Drama
- Geraldine Atlee - Head of Business, Scripted Content
- James Dundas - Commercial Rights & Business Affairs Manager (also serves as Tender Manager)
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Appreciate the summary. Thank you
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A lot of promising things in there, sounds like they’re doing the right things here.
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They not only need to bring back Gallifrey they need to just leave it being back completely unexplained.
Introduce the new Doctor to the new companion. No baggage, no angst, no deep held secret. Then after a few unrelated adventures, have the Doctor called back to his home planet to deal with some problem or other, and reveal to the companion that not not only is the Doctor a time traveler, but that he’s also an alien, and that most of his people just think of him as a very naughty boy for constantly running off and nothing more.
Maybe, at best through in a throw away joke line about how the Time Lords had all died but then they got better, or something.
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This is all very positive. It’s the most hopeful I’ve felt since the abrupt cancellation of the Christmas Special. There’s a clear and ambitious time frame for the tender process and presumably for the resumption of production if they hope to get it back on screen before the decade is out. I’m also cheered by several of the key points highlighted by various people above. Many thanks to @JakeM917 for the summary, too. It makes it much easier to digest.
It looks like they’re after a well established production company who are prepared to do something a bit different. I guess BBC Studios is likely to be the frontrunner, but it all depends on who else throws their hat into the ring. Interesting times.
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I still like the idea that the Piper Doctor (16) is really bigged up as having done basically everything as an incarnation off screen, like an andi-Zodan.
Resurected Gallifrey, saved Susan, defeated The Boss, rescued Rouge, etc. And every Doctor really liked being her
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NETFLIX: Best I can do is two seasons then cancel in on a cliffhanger, like the rest of our shows.
Please don’t Netflix, we’ve already been through that once 
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That feels very targeted
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Sure Bad Wolf only did 2, but I think it’s more that they want a partner that’s actually commited. And not a streaming service that will abandon them again, which lets be honest is what most streaming services do to what feels like most shows nowadays. Even ones that do well
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FumblingFoamasi… FumblingFoamasi? FumblingFoamasi? What in the name of sanity could that fanboy churn out?
What? My several folders, documents, scrawlings, pinboards, and the wall-sized cork-board with three spools of red yarn draped across pins, tacks, paper cutouts, and unreadable post-it notes? No, nothing of worth there. No, sir. Not at all…
(Just one chance, BBC. That’s all I ask, please!)
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All sounds good. Interesting that there’s no specified episode count - as noted above by some, this feels very open. After a few stop-starts, it feels like this could really be the dawn of something new, that steps away from the 2005-2025 model in some ways (whilst also drawing on some of what made it a success).
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Just as an addendum to everyone being very understandably happy about the Invitation to Tender being released, I would like to gently remind everyone that tendering process timelines are provisional timetables, so don’t go pinning March as an absolute. It’s the ideal hoped-for month for pinning it down but Doctor Who’s a complicated show with a lot of production needs and considerations… So just remember that news of the new producing company (or companies) might slip into April or even May.
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Now that some time has passed, I actually think ome of the most interesting aspects of this is that its a contract for only 1 season. Obviously the BBC wants to do more, and maybe this isnt to weird in the industry, but after Disney and this I imagine the last thing the BBC would want is to have to do this all again after 1 series. Sure this leaves the door open if the production company is really bad, but I would have expected a larger up front commitment for Doctor Who.
It also presumably means that the main actors will only start with 1 contract seasons
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One season contracts with an option for a second. That’s a slight distinction but important. All with good reason though. Remember what I said earlier in the week about the awkward unprecedented nature of having to contort around cancelling Christmas this year after announcing it? It’s essentially quite helpful should things not work out (for whatever reason) for them to only firmly commit to one series this time that absolutely will happen once the contract’s signed and pre-production begins. It’s also more financially viable after the heavy commitment financially last go-round as they face up a lot of cuts.
I have seen a lot of young folks gear up angrily about Drag Race this past week, oblivious to the fact that the past four months have seen a fair number of shows hit the floor. Live at the Apollo’s on the way out, and with it, annoyingly, work for some of my friends. We’re in rough tides.
Lead actor contracts will also be the same set-up: one series with a option for a second. Probably better that way, just in case someone decides they want to perhaps leave to progress their career on other stuff after two seasons or something like that.
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