Doctor Who Fan ‘Reboot’ Blows Up Online as AI Controversy Intensifies

An AI-assisted Doctor Who fan episode has attracted hundreds of thousands of views on YouTube just days after release, while its use of generative AI has sparked controversy among fans.

The 55-minute episode, titled The Curse of Kilmorag, was released by fan project The Unmade Season and presents its own unofficial continuation of Doctor Who.

At the time of writing, the video is closing in on 400,000 views, a sizeable audience for an unofficial fan production of almost television-episode length.

The opening briefly recreates David Tennant’s facial likeness and voice, depicting his Doctor immediately before regenerating into a new incarnation.

In The Unmade Season’s own trailer, the creator introduces the new Doctor as someone “we’re calling John Warr”. Searches have not turned up an acting profile connecting a real John Warr to the production, while the episode description says most of its footage was generated locally using AI video-generation models LTX 2.5 and MiniMax.

The episode itself was hand-written by screenwriter Thomas Vittlowe and produced and edited over two months, according to its description.

The episode has proved controversial among some Doctor Who fans because of its use of generative AI, particularly its synthetic performances and the recreation of Tennant’s likeness and voice.

On Digital Spy forums, some viewers have praised the episode’s writing and ambition, with one calling it “fantastic”. Others have questioned the synthetic performances and how AI productions compare with traditional acting and filmmaking.

Reaction on Reddit has been more heated. Some fans have criticised the use of actors’ likenesses, while others argue that the project deserves to be judged differently from low-effort AI clips because of the impressive writing, editing and production involved.

Some viewers who remain sceptical about generative AI have nevertheless said they enjoyed the finished episode.

In a video responding to the attention, Vittlowe said he had been “overwhelmed” by the positive reaction but claimed he had also received multiple threats against his life by email.

He said one message threatened to “string you up for creating AI slop” and said he intends to report the threats to police.

Vittlowe also alleged that some of those contacting him claimed they had been directed towards his channel by other Doctor Who YouTubers. Those allegations have not been independently verified.

He denied suggestions that he is profiting from the project, saying creating the AI-generated visuals is expensive and that financial support goes towards the credits required to produce them.

Vittlowe said people were free to disagree with the use of generative AI, but called for criticism to remain respectful.

Despite the backlash, he says he intends to continue producing his stories.

Fan-made Doctor Who films have existed for decades, but generative video tools are allowing individual creators to attempt projects on a very different scale.

Whether viewers see The Curse of Kilmorag as an impressive fan experiment or an uncomfortable glimpse of where generative AI is heading, its rapidly growing audience suggests plenty are curious enough to watch for themselves while Doctor Who remains off the air.