Posted in: BBC, TV | Tagged: doctor who

Doctor Who: BBC Studios Will Pitch During Tender: "In It to Win It"

CEO Tom Fussell confirmed that BBC Studios will be pitching for Doctor Who during the tender process, adding, "We are in it to win it."

Earlier today, BBC Director General Matt Brittin reaffirmed the media company's commitment to the future of Doctor Who. "That's a show that has regenerated multiple times in its 60-plus year history, and we'll do so again," Brittin shared in comments that coincided with the release of the BBC's Annual Report. "I think that's one of the great things about the 100-year history of the BBC. We can do that, and we can creatively renew shows that people love, and we'll be working hard on that right now." For those who need a refresher, the show will soon be officially put out to tender, meaning that the BBC lets interested producers know what it's looking for and they get to pitch their vision of how they plan to make that a reality – and a success. Though Russell T. Davies and Bad Wolf are out, BBC Studios CEO Tom Fussell made it clear that the production company plans on jumping into the mix.

"We've been the producer for 60 years, and we want to be the producer for another 60 years, so we will be going for that tender with gusto," Fussell shared with Deadline Hollywood. "We are in it to win it." As for what that might mean specifically – for example, will it be one or several banners under the BBC Studios umbrella pitching, Fussell wouldn't say. "We've got the full breadth of our studio to look at that, and we will do the best for an absolute adored brand. As the distributor and commercial licensor [of Doctor Who], we understand those fan relationships and can build on that. Doctor Who is something that people in this organization care passionately about," he added.

New Doctor Who Team "Will Need a Moment"; Moffat Advises Patience

While we await word on what the future could hold for Doctor Who, now that the BBC has made the decision to put it out to tender for new production companies to pitch, Moffat has been doing a nice job of keeping the fans focused on the "bigger picture": the show will have a future – it's just going to take a while. Checking in with Half the Picture, continued along that track – though he added that the new production/creative team "will need a moment" to really bring together its vision for Doctor Who.

"So long as everybody is talking about the future of the show, do you know what the show has? A future," Moffat shared about all of the buzz over the show's fate over the past few months. "If it's an entirely new team, which I think it will be, they need a moment. They need a moment to sit back and say, 'Okay, what's it going to be this time? Who's it going to be this time? What sort of show is it going to be?'" Moffat added. "Don't go rushing into that, and meanwhile, you've got all of 'Doctor Who,' all of it, on your iPhone. You can sit and watch anything that we haven't accidentally lost, and you'll be fine. Just watch it all end to end and give them time to get them going. But it will be back, and it will be good."

Moffat also had some interesting perspectives on television writing and the importance of remembering that a writer's primary job is to entertain. "They never mention the word entertainment, which is the minimum condition of anything you write. Not theme, which some poor sods ask me about, and not subtext. Oh, do me a favour. It's entertainment. That's all you're doing," Moffat said. "When people come home at night to watch a TV show or go to the cinema to watch a movie or the theatre, that's all they're going for. They're not going there for your thoughts on things. They're not wanting to decode the inner mystery of it. They want you to provide approximately 90 minutes of entertainment so they can go to a restaurant and have a nice time. That's it."

But that doesn't mean that Moffat's telling writers not to hit on important themes and address key issues with their work; it just shouldn't be at the expense of the viewers engaging with what's on their screens. "If you're anything beyond that, if you have deep philosophical insights, that's fine, so long as it doesn't get in the way of being entertaining," he noted. "You should always be thinking what's the next interesting thing that could happen? What would be exciting now? The simple rule is every sentence has to make you want to read the next sentence. All the words should lean forward. That's what you're doing. You're trying not to bore people."

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