Fair point. I had forgotten that.
New Doctor Who animated series announced but...
- Thread starter Rich Watson
- Start date
There's no reason to assume a Doctor Who cartoon for preschoolers would use any existing Doctor, since after all the preschoolers would have no prior knowledge of the series. Given the precedents of Scream of the Shalka and the 1990 Nelvana animated series pitch, I think there's a good chance they'd create their own original version of the Doctor, maybe with an amalgam of attributes from past Doctors. There's a good chance their Doctor would wear a long, colorful scarf.
Looking at the pitch document it's purely a BBC production, no Bad Wolf involvement, so very much its own thing.
And will probably end up closer to the original educational aspirations of the series than it's been in 60 years.
And will probably end up closer to the original educational aspirations of the series than it's been in 60 years.
Doctor the Explorer?
For anyone who doesn't want to click through, the part relevant to people who don't run an animation studio is the Editorial Brief:The actual pitch document for the series is publicly available to read. So don't trust anyone claiming to know what it's about since it's being left wide open.
Doctor Who pre-school animation: invitation to pitch
Deadline for initial responses: 10 July 2025www.bbc.co.uk
Doctor Who is an iconic character with a 60 year history within British TV and culture, who is also known around the world. In addition to the flagship live-action series there have also been many Whoniverse extensions for both core audiences and those of a different demographic including Class for BBC Three and The Sarah Jane Adventures for CBBC.
We are commissioning a new animated Doctor Who series for CBeebies. This interpretation of Doctor Who should be appropriate for the CBeebies audience. We are keen to retain the following attributes. The Doctor:-
- is hugely intelligent, especially with scientific knowledge
- is aspirational for our audience
- travels through time and space saving individuals, civilisations, and planets
- is an alien with two hearts from the planet Gallifrey
- has a strong moral compass
- avoids physical combat, relying on intelligence, humour, and diplomacy to resolve conflicts
- has a TARDIS and a Sonic Screwdriver which should feature in the series
The Doctor will attract a range of friendly and relatable companions who join in on the adventures and provide additional points of view as they collectively solve problems.
It also wouldn’t be Doctor Who without villains and monsters, but these should be more mischievous or bumbling, rather than menacing, and provide the Doctor with challenges that can be overcome in a non-threatening way. A list of existing villains and foes for you to choose from will be provided to suppliers who register to pitch.
We are open to your vision of animation style – or styles – that allow you to bring Doctor Who to life for a younger audience of 4- to 6-year-olds. The order is for 52 x 11’ episodes but we are open to exploring 2-parters where this would benefit the narrative. When developing your proposal please also consider additional suggestions for new ways to engage the audience and strengthen brand loyalty.
We are looking for creative and talented producers who are passionate about Doctor Who and can re-envision the character and world for a younger audience. The stories should be simple, adventurous, and energetic with empowering messages woven seamlessly into the plot. Moral lessons and educational themes could also be introduced, but never to the detriment of fun, action, and age-appropriate humour.
52 11-minute episodes is a total of about 9 and a half hours. That is spread over two years, so it's not quite going to make for more pre-school Doctor Who than flagship Doctor Who these past few seasons.
I'm at once intrigued and mortified to imagine a "mischievous and bumbling" Dalek. "Ir-ri-tate! Ir-ri-taaaate!"
