BBC Boss Says He Watched a 'Pretty Good' AI-Generated Episode of 'Doctor Who' - Variety

Sep 29, 2026 3:22am PT BBC Boss Says He Watched a ‘Pretty Good’ AI-Generated Episode of ‘Doctor Who’: ‘Everyone’s a Creator, Not All the Creativity Is Bad’ By K.J. Yossman Plus Icon K.J. Yossman @KJYossman Latest A24 British Shows ‘It Gets Worse,’ ‘Major Players’ and ‘The Ministry of Time’ to Stream on Paramount+ in U.S. 2 hours ago ‘Alice in Wonderland’ Immersive Experience Set for London 2 hours ago Jeremy Clarkson Is Already Thinking About What Comes After ‘Clarkson’s Farm’: ‘It Has to Be Unbelievably Ambitious’ 4 hours ago See All Courtesy of Disney+ BBC boss Matt Brittin says he was recently sent a fully AI-generated episode of “ Doctor Who ,” which he deemed “pretty good” – although he was quick to add it was “not going to replace humans.” “Everyone’s got the ability in their hands — or six billion people have — to create content at the standard of a Hollywood studio,” said Brittin, who was speaking at the Royal Television Society conference in London, U.K. Related Stories How Oscar-Tipped Rising Star Anthony Ippolito Turned ‘I Play Rocky’ Into ‘I Play Sylvester’: ‘You Only Have One Chance to Do This’ Zurich Film Festival Heads on Theatrical-Loving Gen Z, Prioritizing Private Equity and Tilly Norwood a Year Later: This Is the ‘Place Where You Address the Real Hot Questions’ “Somebody sent me a 50-minute episode of ‘Doctor Who’ that was AI-generated the other day. It’s pretty good,” he continued. “I mean, it’s not going to replace humans, and we’ll come on to that. So everyone’s a creator. Not all the creativity is bad.” Popular on Variety He didn’t give any more details about what the episode contained — for example using existing actors or generating entirely new ones — or who made it. Brittin joined the BBC as director-general earlier this year after an eighteen-year stint at Google. He confessed at the conference, where he was in conversation with Kirsty Young, that he first turned down the job when he was approached. “They called me, and I said, ‘I can’t do the job, I’m not a program maker. I’m not a journalist.’” “And actually, I was persuaded that being an outsider, I might be able to do the job, but only with all of you,” he said, gesturing to the audience, which was made up of senior television producers, commissioners and executives. AI has been the dominant topic of conversation at the convention, which is this year hosted by Amazon and themed “United in change, if not now when?” At the opening of the convention, Prime Video international boss Kelly Day also urged the industry to embrace AI, saying “AI doesn’t replace imagination, it amplifies it.” Trump Rages at CNN’s Kaitlan Collins in Midnight Rant: She Has ‘Trump Addiction’ ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ Returning to Brooklyn for Week of Shows ‘SNL U.K.’ Mocks Donald Trump and Andy Burnham’s First Meeting, Harvey Weinstein, Sam Altman and More in Wild Weekend Update White House Blocks CNN and MS NOW Journalists From Entry and Confiscates Their Badges After Donald Trump Bans Networks MS NOW, CNN, Politico Allege Trump, White House Staffers Violated First Amendment in New Suit Ariana Grande Blasts Trump Administration for Using ‘We Can’t Be Friends’ in Social Post: ‘Your Truth Is False’ Loading comments...