An artificial intelligence-generated episode of Doctor Who was “pretty good,” according to BBC Director General Matt Brittin.

Brittin, who used to run Google EMEA, revealed that somebody had recently sent him a 50-minute ep of the BBC’s long-running sci-fi franchise, which was completely AI-generated, and today he refused to slam it.

“Pretty good” was Brittin’s verdict of the ep of the show that has been running on the BBC for six decades and will return with a new creative team in a couple of years’ time. “I mean it’s not going to replace humans but we’ll come on to that,” he countered.

Speaking at the RTS London Convention, Brittin echoed Amazon international boss Kelly Day in throwing his weight behind the power of AI. Day just said AI “brings down costs meaning more stories can be made, more diverse voices can get heard and more creative risks get taken.”

“Everyone’s 1790676544 got the ability to create content almost at the standard of a Hollywood studio,” he said. “In some cases it’s not perfect but look at what you can do and that’s changing all the time.

Brittin’s keynote with BBC presenter Kirsty Young came a few days after he said he would allow a programme to be made and presented by AI “within guardrails.”

Artificial intelligence aside, Brittin’s talk came at a seriously difficult time for the BBC.

Amid a mega £500M ($662M) savings drive that is leading to hundreds of layoffs, channel closures are expected as soon as later this week, with youth-skewing BBC Three understood to be in the firing line.

Possibly hinting at a BBC Three linear channel closure, he reiterated that “if you look at on-demand consumption versus live consumption [on some of our services], you ask yourself, ‘Is that the best way to spend a license fee pound?’.”

More generally, Brittin said he is “having conversations with people whose jobs are at risk on a daily basis” and he “doesn’t underestimate” the difficulty of the situation.

“We are here for the same reasons that everyone else is,” he added. “We have to do consolidation.”

Brittin was speaking at the RTS Convention after the head honchos at Amazon and before Channel 4 boss Priya Dogra.

Channel 4 must embrace radical change or face extinction.

That’s the message from Sony Pictures Television president Wayne Garvie, who said that it is “very difficult to see how Channel 4 survives in its present form.”

Speaking at the Royal Television Society London Convention, Garvie was asked who Channel 4 needs to partner with to survive. He joked: “God, what a mystery. Sherlock Holmes, where are you?”

The forthright executive, who oversees a production empire behind series including Dept. Q and Industry, doubled down on his view that Channel 4 should become part of the BBC’s commercial operations.

He continued: “You put Channel 4 as the commercial arm of the BBC, doing public service commercial channels, and you bring them together, and Channel 4 could then have its own identity.

“I think it’ll probably happen because if not, frankly, it’s very difficult to see how Channel 4 survives in its present form — and it’s not their fault. The market is changing in every conceivable way.”

Garvie was speaking after Channel 4 announced the biggest round of layoffs in its 43-year history, with CEO Priya Dogra detailing the need for the company to “own” its future.

Garvie is skeptical that Channel 4’s business model will be transformed by in-house production, arguing that it’s “really tough” to launch a successful content division.

Speaking on the same platform, Heather Jones, chief creative officer EMEA and general manager UK at Hearst Networks, agreed that Channel 4 “needs to figure out who they partner with and how.”

Dogra has previously downplayed the idea of merging with the BBC. Speaking at the Creative Cities stage in May, Channel 4 boss Dogra said it would result in Channel 4 being absorbed by the BBC, leading to the loss of its editorial voice.

“That would be a loss to society, [and] a real loss for the creative economy,” she said. Dogra did say she was open to collaboration, though she was not clear on what this would entail.

Amazon’s Prime Video international chief has unashamedly thrown her weight behind the power of artificial intelligence and its use in Prime Video content.

Addressing the RTS London Convention, Kelly Day said the controversial tech “brings down costs meaning more stories can be made, more diverse voices can get heard and more creative risks get taken,” while “transforming the viewing experience on Prime Video.”

“That is not a threat to creativity, that is creativity unleashed,” she told a room packed full of the great-and-the-good of the British TV industry.

While Day stressed “we’re not looking for an AI model to write the next Fleabag,” she said it will allow the creator of the next big hit to “spend less time on admin and more time on creative decisions that make a show like that sing.”

Day echoed previous senior Amazon execs in backing AI. Amazon has an AI Studios division, led by Albert Cheng, which is currently being built out. Amazon MGM Studios recently dropped Luca Guadagnino’s movie Artificial, which tells of OpenAI and the company’s turbulent period in 2023 when founder Sam Altman was fired and rehired in a matter of days.

“The next generation of viewers is telling us they want more, not less,” added Day. “AI will help us get there faster. And the people who make some of the best television in the world are sitting in this room.”

Amazon is sponsoring the RTS Convention this year and Day revealed Prime Video quadrupled spend in UK TV, movies and live sport over the past five years.

Arguing that the UK TV industry should embrace change and build “for the customer,” Day said Prime Video spent £4B ($5.3B) since 2022 versus £1B the preceding five years, leading total spend to hit £5B since Prime Video moved into the territory a decade ago with Jeremy Clarkson’s motoring show The Grand Tour.

Day revealed publicly for the first time the story of how, a decade ago, Prime Video set The Grand Tour’s launch date to time with the streamer rolling out from five to more than 200 territories.

Day labeled the UK as Amazon MGM Studios’ “largest production hub outside of the U.S.,” with more than 90 productions having now filmed there in the past decade. Big hitters include the likes of Clarkson’s Farm, Last One Laughing UK and The Assassin. Upcoming are an adaptation of Stephen King’s Crouch End and Irish YA series Boys of Tommen. “We need a lot more so please call us,” said Nicole Clemens, international originals boss, who has relocated to London.

Day became the latest international head honcho to unveil a big money content spend in the UK. Both Disney+ and Netflix have laid down similar gauntlets over the past few years.

Day was speaking at RTS London alongside international originals boss Nicole Clemens before the chiefs of the BBC and Channel 4. Clarkson is speaking later, as is Steven Knight and Graham Norton.