Now, this is something of a surprise – and an oddity. Mystery Doctor Who-related jobs are apparently up for grabs… in Manchester!
The BBC is supposedly looking for new members of the crew to work in some capacity in relation to the show, presumably as part of Series 11. Lovin Manchester reports:
“Among the new roles are technicians and skilled backstage extraordinaires who are ambitious enough to bring the on-screen magic to our living rooms.”
The corporation is also looking for extras for a Who project at a special location in the city.
This is all especially curious because it comes just one day after applications for a Script Editor position for the series closed. That job, however, was in Cardiff, the established home of Doctor Who since 2003; this one is some 188 miles north of the Welsh capital.
To add to this enigma, we can’t find anything on the BBC Careers website: it’s solely being reported on Lovin Manchester. Why? Sorry to sound like a stuck record, but we simply don’t know. Perhaps it’s supposed to be kept under wraps, hence its absence from the official Beeb website. No one seems to know how to apply for any positions either…
There is another possibility, stemming from the suggestion that they’re looking for folk to work at a “special location”: perhaps the Doctor Who Experience is moving there. The exhibition is currently housed at a specially-built unit by Roath Lock Studios, but shuts next week (on 9th September). Rumour has it that plans are afoot to move the Experience elsewhere and may include Peter Capaldi’s current TARDIS (with a new console room built to replace it).
Nonetheless, there’s been plenty of speculation that Doctor Who production would move to Manchester with Chris Chibnall’s appointment as the new showrunner; the Script Editor role seemed to quash those rumours, but perhaps there’s more truth to them than we previously believed. If so, this is big. It would, presumably, mean a whole new team and the biggest break from the show’s history since its revival under Russell T. Davies.
We’re just going to have to wait, but be prepared for some seismic shifts for our favourite TV institution.
Excited? Worried? Or keeping your fingers crossed that this will all blow over…?
