Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies is currently overseeing the one of the biggest transformations in the show's rich 60-year history. Thanks to a huge investment from Disney, the show has received an enormous budget increase.
Doctor Who's performance on Disney+ so far has been rather lacklustre. The British sci-fi show got solid viewership in its target demographic, but ultimately failed to draw in a wider audience. Moreover, the most recent season starring Ncuti Gatwa as the titular Time Lord was a mixed bag. Episodes ranged from the brilliant, with installments like "73 Yards" and "Boom," to more disappointing entries like "Space Babies" and "The Devil's Chord."
Right now, the future of the Whoniverse at Disney is somewhat precarious, although we've got at least one more season and a spinoff, The War Between the Land and the Sea, landing at the House of Mouse.
Despite seeing his own show get the streaming treatment, Davies isn't wholly convinced by the concept's longevity. Looking ahead, he hopes to see television “go back to making 8 p.m. dramas about lawyers or health centers, or shows that teach people how to make television.”
As for how he sees the streaming model as fundamentally flawed, he told BBC Today (per Deadline): “There are too many streamers, too much money and not everyone is watching so it can’t be financially viable."
“The streamers are heading for a South Sea bubble,” he concludes, adding that he "kind of hopes" it happens. In the meantime, Doctor Who continues. On Christmas Day, the show's traditional festive special returns with "Joy to the World," starring Bridgerton's Nicola Coughlan. Check out the new trailer!
Doctor Who bosses warn writers about using artificial intelligence
Both Russell T Davies and former Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat have been working in the television industry for decades. What they have to say about the industry holds a lot of weight. And with the dawn of AI being able to write entire scripts to a relatively high standard (although not without silly errors at times), they both warn against AI scripts.
Speaking to Radio Times, Steven Moffat weighed in on AI. “Human beings are amazingly cheap, we’re knocking out human beings every day. And unlike anything else in history, the more we use it, the less good it is,” he said. “Because the more content that is out there produced by AI, the more it absorbs its own content, and eats its own tail.”
"Television has been run on those principles for a very long time," Davies added. "You’ve just described most networks!”
AI gets better every day, sure, but it'll only ever be able to copy the human content it feeds off.
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