Doctor Who season 14 is so far "unaffected" by writers' strike
The news will come as a relief to fans of the series.
Doctor Who season 14 has not been impacted by the writers strike currently taking place in the United States, RadioTimes.com understands.
The strike action has been organised by the Writers Guild of America (WGA) over a number of issues, including streaming royalties and the use of artificial intelligence.
At present, some are saying that the strike could continue for months, which poses serious challenges for some films and television shows that are currently shooting with work-in-progress scripts.
Fans were understandably concerned about what this could mean for Doctor Who season 14, now in production, but they can be assured the series is currently "unaffected" by the walkout.
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The Writers' Guild of Great Britain (WGGB) – of which showrunner Russell T Davies is a member – is not currently striking, and so work on Doctor Who is continuing as normal.
Although the sci-fi drama is now a co-production with the US-based Disney Plus, it has a team of British writers and is being filmed in Cardiff by Bad Wolf and BBC Studios – far away from the picket lines across the pond.
A spokesperson for Doctor Who told RadioTimes.com: "Doctor Who is unaffected by the WGA strikes."
The WGGB has expressed solidarity with the WGA, warning its members not to take jobs where the latter body has jurisdiction until such time as the dispute has been resolved.
“We continue to show our solidarity with our sister union and their members in the US as they embark on industrial action to secure fair pay, decent working conditions and to gain their rightful share in the future financial successes of their work,” said WGGB chair Lisa Holdsworth.
Read more:
- Doctor Who producer vetoed writer’s "horrific" Ood scene
- Doctor Who stars Peter Davison and Georgia Tennant reunite for new adventure
The previous writers strike, which took place between November 2007 and February 2008, had a considerable impact on the entertainment industry, causing the postponement or outright cancellation of several TV shows.
Meanwhile, the poor critical reception to blockbuster films 007: Quantum of Solace and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen was also attributed to the strike, causing both projects to go into production with unfinished scripts.
Doctor Who is available to stream on BBC iPlayer with episodes of the classic series also available on BritBox – you can sign up for a 7-day free trial here.
Check out more of our Sci-Fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on.
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Authors
David Craig is the Senior Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering the latest and greatest scripted drama and comedy across television and streaming. Previously, he worked at Starburst Magazine, presented The Winter King Podcast for ITVX and studied Journalism at the University of Sheffield.
