You all know the sad ballad of Doctor Who by now. How the longest-running and most successful sci-fi television show of all time was brought low by a series of creatives who simply couldn’t help but insert their personal world into the production. Ratings collapsed, and the BBC parked the show.
The old showrunner was shown the door. The production studios and team behind the rebooted show since 2005 were let go. The BBC launched a competitive tender for a new team to come in and run the show with the aim of getting the series on air by 2028 or 2029. Producers were requested to pitch plans to refresh the series with a major creative overhaul.
The deadline for submissions was apparently last Friday, and Deadline has some details.
The first bidders to be revealed are the most intriguing. It is from the company of Line of Duty and Bodyguard creator/showrunner Jed Mercurio. Forgiving him for having a name like a Las Vegas stage magician for a moment, Mercurio is named as executive producer in the proposal. It is from Hat Trick Mercurio, the company he runs alongside Jimmy Mulville. Mulville started as a comedian and comedy actor, appearing in shows like Chelmsford 123 and improv show Whose Line Is It Anyway?
Mulville then went on to form Hat Trick, one of British television’s most successful production companies, behind everything from Have I Got News For You to Father Ted, before merging with Mercurio’s organisation.
Mercurio is a big sci-fi fan, and created Invasion: Earth in the 1990s.
The report also says that World Productions that also submitted a pitch. They are the production house behind shows like Vigil, The Bletchley Circle, and The Bombing of Pan Am 103.
STV Studios, the Scottish production company on shows like Criminal Record and Blue Lights, is another bidder, along with two different in-house production entities from the BBC itself.
