Posted in: BBC, TV | Tagged: bbc, doctor who

Doctor Who Tender: BBC Fears Strike After Unions Reject Pay Increase

In a report that impacts the Doctor Who tender, BBC Director General Matt Brittin revealed that the unions rejected a new pay increase offer.

When it comes to the future of Doctor Who, it's impossible not to keep an eye on what's going on "bigger picture" with the BBC. As fans wait for the tender information to drop so that production companies can begin formally pitching, the BBC is in the midst of major cost-cutting. Announced earlier this year by BBC Director General Matt Brittin, the plan is an overall effort to cut costs amounting to £500 million/$670 million over the next three years (in addition to the BBC's current savings plan, aimed at £1.5 billion/$2 billion). To accomplish that, commission spending across its TV, radio, and news divisions was set to be cut by £80 million ($107 million) over the next two years. That includes canceling programming and reviewing the BBC's "broadcast TV channels and radio network portfolio as audiences move online." In addition, it was announced that an estimated 1,800-2,000 layoffs across the board were expected over the next several months, with a percentage of those layoffs having already hit.

Now, Deadline Hollywood is reporting exclusively that Brittin and the BBC could be facing a massive staff walkout. During an internal town hall meeting, sources report that the BBC director general said the unions have rejected the media company's new pay increase offer, which was raised from 1% to 2.1%. "That was disappointing," Brittin reportedly shared. "I understand the cost of living and the pressures that people are under, but [I'm] just disappointed because people want clarity and we want to be able to give the pay rise." Admitting that the talks have been a "pretty difficult process for everyone," Brittin added that a work action by the unions was very possible. The BBC head noted that talks with the unions are ongoing and that some unions support the 2.1% increase, but he added, "different people have got different opinions."

Doctor Who Tender Even More About Money This Time Around: Chibnall

With showrunner Russell T. Davies and production company Bad Wolf officially out and a whole lot of questions surrounding the Christmas Special (and the past two seasons) still needing to be answered, the Doctor Who tender watch rolls on. Checking in with the WHO Corner to Corner Podcast in support of his novel The Parkwood Murders, ex-showrunner Chris Chibnall offered some frank and honest insight into the biggest factor at play: money. With the BBC in the midst of doing some serious across-the-board budget cuts and layoffs, gaining a better understanding of the show's financial situation is essential before posting the tender information to potential production companies. "I think the biggest thing you can say about all of that is it's very easy to miss the point ‒ that this is primarily about money. It's not really about all of the things that everybody is banging on about and moaning about or what or getting emotional about," Chibnall shared.

Basically, before the BBC can put the word out on what it's looking for, it needs to have a pretty definitive understanding of how the show will be funded. "It's very hard for the BBC to fund their programs right now because of what's been done to them in terms of funding agreements over the past 15 years and the slow whittling away of that. And the increase in big Hollywood monoliths and conglomerates really taking over the market. And really, what you've got is… the BBC can't afford to fully fund any drama now, and it certainly can't afford to fund 'Doctor Who.' Any discussion around it is about money more than anything else. And I think that that's been missed a little in the discourse that I saw around the show. There's all kinds of other things, and obviously, it's hugely disappointing and hasn't been handled brilliantly. But really, the big story is, look, this is a BBC that cannot afford to make shows that it wants to make. The BBC wants to make 'Doctor Who.' Don't be in any doubt about that."

Chibnall also noted that Disney stepping away as a co-producer created a funding vacuum that will need some time to fill. "I think there are lots of things they will have to sort out. And I guess the byproduct of the Disney deal ending is you had a funder and then that funder is now gone, and it's hard. It will take some, on any show, it would take some work to then convince other co-production partners to come in at that point when somebody else has dropped out."

The ex-showrunner also had some thoughts on how production companies should approach the matter. "If I'm a production company and I'm looking at things that are going out for tender, what I'm going to want to know is, well, what's the budget? How many episodes? And where's the funding coming from? And until that's sorted, you know, you can't really move forward for it. It will need, you know, new people and a new generation to really kind of redo it and make it new again. That's what it always needs – always needs to be new and exciting and surprising, and that taking by surprise is really important."

With those kinds of insights, one might think that Chibnall has a bit of an itch to return to the long-running series. Well, you would be wrong, with Chibnall making it clear that he's moved on. "I'm not going anywhere near any of that process, just in case anybody misreads that. Absolutely not! I won't come back for a guest writing appearance or to run it," he added.

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