Jed Mercurio Pitched to Revive Doctor Who

Even before the BBC opened submissions urging creators to rescue Doctor Who from its end, people worldwide wanted the task. Hollywood screenwriter Dean Devlin, known for Independence Day and Stargate, publicly offered his studio, Electric Company, to bring David Tennant back and launch the show into a new era.

Now that the BBC has opened submissions for the competitive tender to produce Doctor Who, new names have emerged. The most surprising bid comes from Jed Mercurio, best known as the showrunner of the BBC police procedural drama Line of Duty.

Can Doctor Who be saved by Jed Mercurio?

Deadline revealed Mercurio’s bid and added that Hat Trick Mercurio, a production company he runs with founder Jimmy Mulville, submitted the proposal with Mercurio attached as executive producer. Mercurio’s work centers on Line of Duty, which has a seventh season planned for sometime in 2027. That background diverges from family fun and timey-wimey shenanigans. Still, hope remains for Mercurio, who also created the sci-fi miniseries Invasion: Earth in 1998.

The BBC is not the only entity looking to handle the future of Doctor Who. World Productions, a production company that joined ITV Studios in 2017, also submitted plans to reinvent the Time Lord. According to Deadline, World Productions CEO Simon Heath is leading that plan. World Productions previously produced the BBC political thriller Bodyguard in 2018.

Interest in the longest-running sci-fi TV series in history offers strong credentials. Mercurio is a talented writer, and World Productions has produced acclaimed television over the years. However, Doctor Who remains a major franchise with a massive history and a passionate fanbase of Whovians. No matter the pedigree, taking over the show will present challenges.

As one unnamed senior production chief told 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 true. In the meantime, Whovians can take comfort knowing creators remain interested in continuing Doctor Who, sparing them another era of the Wilderness years.

Source: Polygon