BBC Studios will be bidding to become the next producer of Doctor Who “with gusto,” according to CEO Tom Fussell.
Speaking to Deadline on BBC annual report day, Fussell addressed the future of the BBC’s biggest sci-fi hit by confirming the production arm will put its hat in the ring when the tender process kickstarts later this year.
“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,” said Fussell. “We are in it to win it.”
BBC Studios has produced Doctor Who for the majority of its run but the most recent iteration was made by Sony-owned for both the BBC and Disney+, before Disney+ exited and showrunner Russell T. Davies shockingly announced he was stepping back. A planned Christmas special was axed and the BBC has instead put Doctor Who out to tender, with launch date likely at least a couple of years away.
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Fussell did not confirm which BBC Studios label would apply to produce Doctor Who, or whether multiple labels will compete. “We’ve got the full breadth of our studio to look at that and we will do the best for an absolute adored brand,” he added. “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.”
One of many Doctor Who mega-fans within the BBC is new Director General Matt Brittin. Earlier today, he said of Doctor Who: “That’s a show that has regenerated multiple times in its 60-plus year history, and we’ll do so again.”
Fussell was speaking after BBC top brass expressed fears about the future of the 100-year-old broadcaster’s funding model as households paying the license fee plummet. Yet Fussell’s commercial arm performed well, nudging revenue up to £2.2B ($3B) and seeing EBITDA rise by 17%. This means BBC Studios will very likely hit its five-year return target to the BBC of £1.5B, a target that is due to elapse next year. Fussell said there is no confirmation at present as to whether the target will be renewed or the figure increased but “they might be as part of the charter.” “I’ve got a long-term mandate to keep growing and that’s what I’m told to do,” he said.
In today’s BBC annual report, the commecial arm cited smash kids hit Bluey, which releases a movie next year, as a big contributor to its coffers. The most streamed show in America is often cited by BBC Studios as a revenue driver but Fussell shrugged off the notion that BBC Studios is becoming overly reliant on Joe Brumm’s adorable Australian family of pups.
“We’ve got a very diversified portfolio and half of our revenue comes from a content studio making shows around the world,” he added. “But Bluey is a unique bit of IP written by an absolute genius writer from a fantastic studio in Brisbane, and we’re thrilled with the partnership we’ve got there. If you are questioning whether our hit is too big, well I would say this is a nice problem to have.”
Fussell noted that other huge BBC Studios brands like Doctor Who and Top Gear are both off UK screens at the moment, proving that big hits can “ebb and flow.”
Another contributor to BBC Studios’ growth has been streamer BritBox International and Fussell cited big hits like The Other Bennet Sister along with the decision to launch a premium tier for the North American SVoD as contributing to the gains. He praised “noise and vibes” created by a BritBox marketing team that don’t necessarily have the budget firepower of the big Hollywood studios.
“Synergies are a nice word for job cuts”
Those Hollywood studios now have a larger footprint in the UK with Comcast-owned Sky buying ITV and Jeff Zucker’s RedBird IMI-owned All3Media completing its merger with Banijay to create the world’s biggest super-indie.
Brittin earlier branded the Banijay-All3 merger “fantastic” but Fussell, who was CFO of Shine when it merged with Endemol in 2015, was a little more circumspect, while today’s BBC annual report noted that larger competitors pose a challenge to BBC Studios.
“Mergers normally happen when there is lack of growth in a market and people are looking for the dreaded word synergies, which is a nice word for job cuts,” added Fussell, as news of the first major casualties of the Banijay-All3 merger begin to emerge.
“We all have to adapt to the future,” he went on to say. “When I’m selling programs around the world, I’ve never met a customer who is interested in the overarching label of the super-indie in which you belong. It’s about who’s making it, what’s the idea and what have you made before. So if you’ve got some of the amazing creatives we have, these names can cut through.”
