VFX studio The Mill, which provided visual effects for Doctor Who from the revival of the series in 2005 until 2013, has gone into administration and closed down.

Launched in 1990, the company produced visual effects for around 150 episodes of Doctor Who and associated shows, Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures.

The move follows its parent company, Technicolor Creative Studios UK Limited, filing for administration on 24th February 2025. Technicolor owned several leading visual effects studios including MPC and Mikros Animation as well as The Mill, though the appointment of administrators relates only to the UK side of the business. BBC News reports that the company’s directors were unable to find a buyer, and that the majority of the more than 440 people employed in the UK have now been made redundant. Joint administrator Nick Holloway said:

“The economic headwinds which are affecting companies right across the creative industries have proved too challenging to overcome, which has led to Technicolor’s UK business being placed into administration today.”

The legacies of the Covid shutdown in production and the lengthy US writers’ strike, together with a fall in advertising revenue, have caused a major slowdown in the industry. As has been been widely reported, established UK broadcasters, the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, and Sky, have all cut production budgets, and new commissions from streaming giants like Netflix and Amazon have not been enough to take up the slack. The Guardian has also reported that market pressures have led to UK independent production companies struggling to stay in business, with widespread job losses and the closure of a number of established names including RDF and Label 1.

The Mill will always have an important place in twenty-first century Doctor Who‘s history (including designing the 2005 title sequence) and we wish all those affected by this sad news of its closure well.