BBC Director-General Deems AI-Generated Doctor Who Episode ‘Pretty Good’

The BBC’s new director-general has revealed that he was recently sent a 50-minute AI-generated episode of sci-fi show “Doctor Who,” judging it “pretty good.”

Per a report in trade paper Variety, Matt Brittin told an audience at the Royal Television Society conference that AI is “not going to replace humans, and we’ll come on to that,” noting that, “everyone’s a creator. Not all the creativity is bad.” Days earlier, Brittin had told an interviewer that he would consider allowing a BBC programme to be made and presented with AI, “within guardrails.”

The news comes as the venerable sci-fi show, which first aired in 1963, was put out to tender after going on hiatus following the conclusion of a $220 million deal with Disney.

Brittin, who took on the top job at the British national broadcaster after an 18-year stint at Google, didn’t reveal further details about the episode, including whether it was generated by the BBC itself or was sent in by an external party. The BBC declined to comment.

The BBC’s previous attempt to bring together “Doctor Who” and AI ended after a sweeping backlash from the show’s audience. In 2024, the broadcaster announced that it had begun using generative AI to create marketing materials for its flagship shows, starting with “Doctor Who.” Within weeks, the BBC abandoned its plans, noting that it had “received complaints” about its use of generative AI to promote the show, and casting its previous efforts as a “small trial.”

The incident came just a few months after the BBC had set out its “core principles” for the use of generative AI, calling the technology a “significant opportunity,” while pledging to a code of public interest, prioritizing talent and “human creativity,” and transparency.

Since then, the broadcaster has launched a series of “pilot projects” using generative AI, including an AI-generated synthetic voice for weather reports, and image enhancement.