Claims that Doctor Who may not be aired in an independent Scotland have been dismissed as "off the planet" by a former BBC chief.
Pro-independence campaigner Blair Jenkins - who previously held senior roles at STV and BBC Scotland and is now the chief executive of Yes Scotland - issued a 100% "guarantee" that the popular sci-fi show and other TV favourites such as Strictly Come Dancing would continue to be broadcast in Scotland under independence.
Doctor Who is currently shown in dozens of countries all around the world, making suggestions that Scotland could be excluded after a Yes vote "more incredible than some of Doctor Who's most fantastic plots", he said.
Mr Jenkins spoke after the Scottish Conservatives and the Scotland Office suggested that independence could have consequences for TV services north of the border.
The Tories said SNP plans to set up a new broadcaster under independence would lead to the loss of popular TV programmes or to viewers forking out more for their favourite dramas.
Party leader Ruth Davidson, who worked for the BBC for a number of years before entering Holyrood, said: "We pay around £300 million towards the licence fee but, by clubbing together with the rest of the UK, we get well more than £3 billion worth of programming.
"Running a new Scottish broadcaster means something has to give.
"Either, it will mean losing programmes or paying more from amazing coverage of things like the Olympics, to great channels like CBeebies and services like the iPlayer. Why pay more for what we already enjoy?"
Ms Davidson was quoted in today's Scottish Sun, saying: "The SNP simply cannot guarantee that we'd still get Dr Who after independence."
A Scotland Office spokesman said yesterday: "Contrary to what the Scottish Government assert, a vote to leave the UK is a vote to leave its institutions, including the BBC."
They were responding to claims from Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop that viewers will be able to watch the same TV programmes they currently enjoy after independence without having to pay a higher licence fee.
Mr Jenkins, a former director of broadcasting at Scottish Television and former head of news and current affairs at both STV and BBC Scotland, accused Ms Davidson and Scottish Secretary Alistair Carmichael of plumbing "new depths of scare-mongering".
Yes Scotland said this Saturday's episode of Doctor Who, marking the 50th anniversary of the series, will be broadcast in 75 countries across the world.
"Even by Project Fear's own standards, this scare story is in the stratosphere for sheer daftness," Mr Jenkins said.
"Ruth Davidson and Alistair Carmichael are living in their own fantasy world with ridiculous claims like these.
"What they and other naysayers are fond of telling everybody is that nothing can be guaranteed in an independent Scotland. Well, I can guarantee 100% that after a Yes vote, Doctor Who, Strictly and every other popular BBC show currently broadcast in Scotland will still be available to viewers here.
'The reality is that Doctor Who is currently shown in scores of countries around the world, from Angola and Australia to Uruguay and Venezuela. The notion that Scotland would somehow uniquely be excluded is more incredible than some of Doctor Who's most fantastic plots."
He added: "That the No campaign is using Doctor Who to try to further their campaign of fear and negativity is laughable. If they are prepared to offer this kind of nonsense, why should we believe anything else they say?"
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article