Even before the BBC opened submissions for plead for creators to lift Doctor Who's weary, bedraggled body from its miserable end and give it new life with fresh ideas, people worldwide were eager to take on the task. Hollywood screenwriter Dean Devlin, known for Independence Day and Stargate, publicly threw his hat in the ring with his studio, Electric Company, to bring David Tennant back and relaunch the show into a new era. Now that the BBC has opened submissions for the competitive tender to produce Doctor Who, however, new names have emerged.
The most surprising is a bid spearheaded by Jed Mercurio, best known as showrunner of the BBC police procedural drama, Line of Duty. Deadline revealed Mercurio's bid and added that Hat Trick Mercurio, a production company Mercurio runs with its founder Jimmy Mulville, submitted the proposal with Mercurio attached as executive producer on the new Doctor Who show. Mercurio's work has largely centered on the ever-popular Line of Duty series, which has a seventh season planned for sometime in 2027.
Not exactly what you'd expect from a show full of family fun and timey-wimey shenanigans. Still, there might be hope for Mercurio, as he also created the sci-fi miniseries Invasion: Earth in 1998. But the BBC isn't the only one looking to handle the future of Doctor Who.
World Productions, a production company that became part of ITV Studios in 2017, has also submitted plans to reinvent the Time Lord. According to Deadline, World Productions CEO Simon Heath is leading the plan. World Productions has proven itself more than qualified, having produced the BBC's most-watched political thriller, Bodyguard, back in 2018.
Still, is an interest in taking over the longest-running sci-fi TV series in history enough qualification? Mercurio is undeniably a fantastic writer, and as mentioned, World Productions has produced some stellar TV over the years. But Doctor Who is a juggernaut, bursting with history and a fanbase of passionate Whovians.
No matter the pedigree, it won't be easy for anyone to take over. As one unnamed senior production chief mentioned to Deadline: "If Jane Tranter and Russell T Davies can’t make sense of that show, then who can and who wants to? It feels like a thankless task." Only time will tell if that proves to be the case.
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