Russell T Davies has criticised BBC director-general Matt Brittin over his "clumsy" remarks regarding an AI-generated episode of Doctor Who.
Speaking at the Royal Television Society conference in September, Mr Brittin said he had watched an unofficial edition of the sci-fi series generated entirely by AI and considered it "pretty good".
Davies, who served as head writer and showrunner for the programme from 2005 until 2010 and returned from 2023 to 2025, tackled the comments on BBC Radio 4’s The Media Show.
"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," Davies said. He added: "I want to be really clear: Humans are leading, and I believe in human creativity, enhanced by whatever tools."
Mr Brittin became director-general in March 2026 after previously working as a Google executive.
Davies remarked that he "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."
During his Royal Television Society appearance, Mr Brittin insisted AI is "not going to replace humans." At a BBC town hall event in October, he acknowledged he "got in trouble" for the statement while reaffirming his faith in creative talent.
"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," Mr Brittin said.
"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."
He continued: "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, who also created Queer As Folk, It’s A Sin, Years And Years and spin-offs Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures, expressed concern about AI in television writing.
Asked if writers should adopt the technology, 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?"
While he does not use AI himself, Davies admitted he is "very much" concerned it could replace human writers.
He also revealed he "used to dread going on a Doctor Who set" because of the special effects, "explosions going on, people pulling themselves in to prosthetics", noting: "It’s more difficult than any other set."
Addressing the future of the series after the cancellation of the 2026 Christmas special, Davies stated: "You’ll start to see production with a brand-new doctor, a brand-new companion, summer next year."
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