Russell T Davies has criticised BBC director-general Matt Brittin’s “clumsy” comments about an AI-generated episode of Doctor Who.
Mr Brittin, while speaking at the Royal Television Society conference in September, said he had watched an unofficial episode of the sci-fi show entirely made by AI and thought it was “pretty good”.
Davies served as showrunner and head writer for Doctor Who from 2005 to 2010 and again from 2023 to 2025.
Davies hits out at 'clumsy' remarks
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s The Media Show about Mr Brittin’s remarks, he said: “That’s a clumsy thing to say in an industry where he’s got writers and artists and it specifically affects people, they’re the first to take the blow.
“I want to be really clear: Humans are leading, and I believe in human creativity, enhanced by whatever tools.”
Mr Brittin, who was appointed as director-general in March 2026, was previously an executive at Google.
Davies said Mr Brittin “hasn’t worked in television for that long and might not be so fruity with an opinion in future.”
He added: “My inbox went ping ping ping ping ping, so God knows what his was like.”
Brittin defends AI stance
Mr Brittin added during his interview at the Royal Television Society that AI is “not going to replace humans.”
In a BBC town hall event in October, Mr Brittin said he “got in trouble” for his comments and stressed that he believes in “human creativity”.
He said: “I was just trying to make the point: ‘Look at the pace of change and what this stuff can do.’ It’s really important. I’ve spent a lot of time on this, as you can imagine.
“We have to understand what it’s capable of, for good and for ill, and that means things like the risk of our journalistic integrity being undermined.
“You want to know that that is (BBC correspondent) Steve Rosenberg in Moscow and not an AI-generated state actor-backed facsimile of him, and we need to understand those risks.”
“Equally, AI can help tools on research, journalists using things like Notebook is hugely powerful. So we’ve got to put it to work.
“What I want to do is accelerate the velocity of testing and learning in this space because it’s vital to the integrity of what we do.
“It will help us to be more effective in a more efficient in some ways, and there are some creative opportunities that come through, too.”
He added: “But I want to be really clear: Humans are leading, and I believe in human creativity, enhanced by whatever tools.
“We’re surrounded by technology today. It’ll be different technology tomorrow. But the BBC has to stand for human trust, using the best technology.”
Davies on AI in writing and Doctor Who future
Along with his work on Doctor Who, Davies is also known for creating the shows Queer As Folk, It’s A Sin, Years And Years and Doctor Who spin-offs Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures.
Asked if writers should use AI when creating their scripts, Davies said: “I have heard stories of some writers using AI prompts to do a first draft which I find shocking because I think… What are you paid for otherwise? What are you there to do?”
Davies said he does not use AI when writing his scripts but “very much” worried it might start to replace writers in the future.
Elsewhere during the interview, Davies said he “used to dread going on a Doctor Who set” because of the special effects and “explosions going on, people pulling themselves in to prosthetics”.
He added: “It’s more difficult than any other set.”
Davies also confirmed the future of the series, after it was announced the planned Christmas 2026 special would not be made.
He said: “You’ll start to see production with a brand-new doctor, a brand-new companion, summer next year.”
