The BBC is considering multiple pitches from some of the biggest production companies in the UK on how to revive Doctor Who. In surprising news, one of UK television's heaviest hitters, producer Jed Mercurio, has thrown his hat into the ring.
Mercurio has had an eclectic career, studying medicine and serving in the Royal Air Force before switching to writing television in the 1990s. He made his name with Cardiac Arrest (1994-96), a grittier and more realistic hospital drama than was normal at the time. He also created The Grimleys (1999-2001) and Bodies (2004-06). His first foray into science fiction, Invasion: Earth (1998), was only a moderate success.
He then achieved a massive, cross-generational success with Line of Duty (2012-21, with a 2019 spin-off movie, with a new season planned next year), a police procedural drama series. One of the biggest British shows of the last twenty years, the show had huge audiences and critical acclaim over an extended run, with a comeback planned.
Mercurio also penned the blockbuster mini-series Bodyguard (2018), which was another big success. His more recent work includes Bloodlands (2021), Trigger Point (2022), DI Ray (2022), Payback (2023), Breathtaking (2024) and Trinity (forthcoming). He is also a successful novelist, having penned four novels and a graphic novel.
Hat Trick Mercurio has made a formal bid to take control of Doctor Who, with Mercurio himself slated to write and produce the series. Mercurio has described himself as a casual Doctor Who fan in the past, someone who enjoys the show but is not steeped deeply in the lore and backstory. One suggestion is that the BBC wants someone less immersed in the minutiae of the show to produce the series moving forwards, with former showrunners Russell T. Davies (2005-10, 2023-25), Steven Moffat (2010-17) and Chris Chibnall (2018-22) all emerging from fandom or writing books etc during the show's long hiatus period in the 1990s.
World Productions, ironically the Line of Duty production company, has submitted another bid, with CEO Simon Heath acknowledging his admiration of the franchise. World Productions is collaborating with ITV Studios, which, if the bid were successful, would mean ITV and the BBC, Britain's two biggest TV networks, joining forces on the show. Formerly fierce rivals, greater ITV-BBC cooperation has been mooted for some time now as a way of generating enough revenue to continue producing good television in the face of international competition.
STV Studios, a Scottish-based company, has also bid on the show. STV is currently riding high with five seasons of Blue Lights, a critically-acclaimed show about policing in Northern Ireland. STV and Screen Scotland have apparently made an ambitious proposal which would include relocating production to Scotland. For twenty-two years, Doctor Who's production has been based in Cardiff, Wales. The BBC is apparently leaning towards keeping production in Wales due to the brand's value to the local economy, including tourism, but may be open to a strong argument for moving to another part of the UK. STV also shoots in Northern Ireland and there may be some scope for the show to make use of locations there as well.
At least two different labels in the BBC Studios family have also bid for the show. Apparently it was considered a shoe-in for BBC Studios to take on the project, but Jed Mercurio's involvement has thrown an unexpected chaos grenade into the process. Mercurio would add interest and gravitas to a show that's been seen as run-down and past its prime for a while now, even though some fans may be wary of Mercurio's relative inexperience in science fiction.
The BBC is expected to declare the winning bid in March 2027.
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