Ex-'Doctor Who' boss says show risks 'looking cheap' compared to rivals on Netflix and HBO

Jodie Whittaker as The Doctor (Credit: BBC)

Steven Moffat, the former Doctor Who showrunner, has said that the show risks ‘looking cheap’ in the face of higher budget rivals on platforms like Netflix.

Moffat added that the show needs ‘a whole lot more money’ in order to avoid falling behind other sci-fi series.

He made the comments while appearing on the Sitcom Geeks podcast.

“My memory of Doctor Who is very much a piece of cardboard that he is standing behind,” he said.

“That’s the big challenge of Doctor Who now… running the risk of looking as cheap now as it did then, compared to what the rest of TV is doing, unless they put a whole lot more money into it.

“And it’s still an inexpensive show. A show that generates as much money as Doctor Who should be getting more of it back, frankly.

(Credit: BBC)

He went on to compare the investment in Doctor Who to the other big budget TV series.

“Television didn’t use to look the way it looks now. When we watch now, we watch something that’s quite often better than cinema,” he said.

“Have you seen the recent Game Of Thrones? I haven’t seen anything in the cinema that matches their battle scenes.”

Moffat took over from Russell T. Davies as showrunner on the long-running series in 2010, helming it until 2017, but also wrote several key episodes of the show from 2005.

He also ran the BBC’s Sherlock from 2009 to 2017.

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