Doctor Who season 14: Series boss confirms higher budget

Just in case you needed some more evidence that Doctor Who season 14 is going to be grander in scale, we’ve got it within!

In a new interview with GQ, returning showrunner Russell T. Davies confirmed that the association with Disney+ moving forward is going to amp up the total budget for many episodes. However, we’re also not going to see stories that are as expensive as it has been suggested out in the press:

“But now, it wasn’t my idea, it was the BBC’s notion to go for a streamer to invest in the show worldwide, which I completely agree with. We’re not on the budget level with Star Wars and the Marvel shows … It’s better than it was, yes yes yes. I mean any piece of television costs millions. We’re not allowed to talk about budget, and we’re not on that Star Wars or Star Trek level, but it’s more than I’ve ever had to work with… it’s not 10 million an episode. It’s absolutely not. I wish it was, it’d make my life easier. But we’re very clever at spending money, I think Doctor Who has learnt more tricks over the years than other shows have, perhaps.”

Davies also made it clear that he was aware of the higher budget before he signed on to be the showrunner for the series once more:

“[The budget is] one of the reasons I’ve come back — you can tell stories on a bigger scale. It’s the same old problems, I still have to cut scenes because they’re too expensive, and I still have to reduce the number of monsters, and things like that … But my imagination feels more free, a lot more free, actually. It’s just a joy to write anyway. I’m really proud of it. Oh my god, there are some strong episodes coming up.”

Ultimately, all of this is exciting, but we’re actually pleased to know of some of the challenges that still exist here with the show. The last thing we want to see is a situation here where the show just throws money around without a care and misses out on the small details — the things that make this show what it is.

Hopefully, we will get to experience a lot of the end result later this year. Season 14 proper is going to start off in the holiday season, following the three-part anniversary event in November.

Related – Want some more season 14 guest-star news?

What are you most excited to check out right now in regards to Doctor Who season 14?

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