BBC Studios is “strongly dedicated to Doctor Who and is still exploring ways to bring the show to fans,” according to CEO Tom Fussell.
Speaking after the release of the BBC Annual Report, Fussell emphasized the “vital” role of BBC Studios’ partnership with Disney and the ongoing success of Doctor Who, especially as the BBC-Disney+ deal for the show remains uncertain and comes after surprising remarks from former Doctor Ncuti Gatwa over the weekend.
Fans love the Doctor Who brand. It’s been that way since before I was in short trousers. Key partner of ours that works with BBC Studios on hits including Bluey, Dancing with the Stars, Tucci in Italy and “a decade’s worth of natural history. They are a crucial partner and we share a lot of the same values so I’m really proud of the way that relationship has worked.
Fussell said today
Doctor Who has drawn attention since Russell T Davies’ revamped second season of the sci-fi show aired with lower-than-expected ratings and mixed reviews, sparking intense speculation that Disney+ might not renew the high-profile co-production deal beyond two seasons, which is currently under discussion.
Over the weekend, 32-year-old Gatwa told the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg Show he is “getting old” and “my body was tired” when asked why he left Doctor Who after two seasons. While calling it “the most amazing job in the world,” Gatwa described Doctor Who as “strenuous” and said it “takes a lot out of you physically, emotionally and mentally.”
One of BBC Studios’ closest partnerships with Disney involves Bluey, the most-streamed show in America, which BBC Studios said today contributed to record revenue and profit of £2.2B and £228M respectively for its commercial division.
Fussell said BBC Studios decision to fund the upcoming Bluey movie is “one of the biggest investments” made during his time in charge.
He also highlighted other recent achievements, including the £255M purchase of the remaining half of BritBox International that BBC Studios didn’t previously own.
BritBox itself generated strong profits last year – leading to a more than 40% jump in revenue for BBC Studios’ media and streaming division – and Fussell said the best-of-British platform has a “unique ability” to support the BBC by co-producing shows like Ludwig and The Other Bennet Sister.
Our mandate is very clear, we are there to make longer-term sustainable growing financial returns and to use the BBC’s values as a way of doing that. [BritBox] has that added advantage of being a very powerful route to market for British shows, which would be very hard to fund if it wasn’t for BritBox.
he added
More direct-to-consumer efforts similar to BritBox or the major move to charge U.S. audiences for news content could be on the way.
Working actively to further develop direct routes to market as part of a strategy to establish sustainable growth for the business amid challenging trading conditions.
according to Fussell, with today’s Annual Report stating BBC Studios is
Fussell admitted that what the BBC calls a scripted funding crisis is a result of those “challenging conditions” and said “the industry needs a bit of help” to solve the issue, which he noted isn’t only affecting the drama genre.
I would go back and say it hit kids and family first, then UK comedy, now it’s hitting drama and natural history is also a challenge. Our job is to take risks and our producers are doing amazingly at pivoting our budgets to get them down a bit. Smart people are looking to pivot their slates to get them back into the sweet spot of [shows costing] between £1M and £3M per hour because that’s probably where you have to go, but even then it’s hard. BBC Studios returned £391M to the BBC last year and is well on track to hit its £1.5B five-year returns target by 2026-27.
he added
Source: Deadline