Doctor Who

[Grazza]

Wasn't Series 1 partially funded by a Canadian channel?

 

Yes, CBC. I believe that lasted all through the Russell T Davies era.

[The Mad Monkey]

Was going to post this in the funny things thread, but thought it was more appropriate in here.

 

[Hamishmash]

 

This made me laugh a lot.

[Ashley]

It amuses me that nobody on Tumblr seems to get this:

 

[Cube]

Barney = TARDIS?

[The Peeps]

lol that's awesome

[Ashley]

Barney = TARDIS?

 

Well he has had a lot of companions insi...wait that doesn't work.

[Dante]

Dr Who Trouble?

SO. Farewell then Doctor Who, which has now disappeared for the summer, with the remaining six episodes from this year’s series due to be screened in the autumn. Farewell too, to executive producer Piers Wenger, who is leaving the BBC for a job at Film4. Could the two things be related?

 

News of Wenger’s intended departure followed the curious announcement the previous month that he was stepping down as head of drama at BBC Wales to work as a “creative leader” instead.

 

The decision to split the current series in two, meanwhile, was taken last year when it became apparent that both budgets and schedules on Doctor Who were running so far out of control it would be impossible to complete a 13-part series in time for a spring transmission.

 

Now, however, there are fears that the second tranche of episodes may not even be completed in time for BBC Worldwide to release a DVD box set of the series in time for the Christmas market, which would be a commercial disaster.

 

Show insiders blame much of the chaos on the decision taken by Wenger and his fellow executive producer Beth Willis last year to dispense with the services of producers Tracie Simpson and Peter Bennett, both of whom had worked on the programme since 2005. The pair were subsequently invited to return but declined.

 

The first series of their new joint venture, Baker Boys, was broadcast in January, with a number of other former Who crew also listed in its credits. “They decided they’d far rather work for less money than endure any more of Piers and Beth,” whimpers the Eye’s man in the Tardis. “The show is in a hell of a mess.”

 

Showrunner and lead writer Steven Moffat has become expert at papering over the cracks, re-ordering episodes and finding creative reasons for spectacular monsters and CGI creations to be given as little screen-time as possible to save cash. But there was general dismay when sci-fi legend Neil Gaiman – whose much-anticipated episode had already had to be held over from the 2010 series due to a lack of funds – had to be informed that a further £200,000 shortfall in the budget meant he would have to rewrite it to include not the alien he had intended but instead an Ood which had been knocking about in the props store since 2006.

 

This, however, was far from the end of the bad news.

 

Programme chiefs in London were horrified to learn recently that BBC Wales is proposing not to make a full series of Doctor Who in 2012, but instead to put the programme on hiatus and merely bash out four “specials” as it did in 2009. This will leave an enormous hole in the BBC1 Saturday night schedule and a bigger one in the profits of BBC Worldwide, and will mean the corporation will be paying lead actor Matt Smith to spend most of the rest of this year doing nothing.

 

Soon after the Eye was published on Tuesday, the BBC confirmed that there will NOT be a full series of Doctor Who broadcast during 2012 but only “a good chunk” of episodes.

 

Within hours of the last Private Eye being published, a panicked BBC press officer was on the blower begging to have our story about how problems behind the scenes meant there would be no full series of Doctor Who in 2012 read down the phone to him. There then followed a fumbling attempt at spin.

 

At 5.25 that evening BBC1’s head of communications announced on Twitter: “Doctor Who is returning. Fourteen new episodes have been commissioned with Matt Smith as the Doctor.” What the BBC would not say, however, was how many of those episodes were actually scheduled for next year.

 

As angry Who fans bombarded the Eye with online demands that we issue an “apology and retraction”, showrunner Steven Moffat went on the offensive. “Private Eye seems like such fun until it’s YOUR friends they’re spreading nasty, inaccurate gossip about. How horrible,” he tweeted the following morning. Which bits of the story he considered inaccurate, he would not say.

 

But BBC1 controller Danny Cohen was quite happy to confirm what was accurate. Cohen used a conference appearance a week after the Eye was published to officially confirm a lack of Doctor Who for 2012. “There will be some episodes, but there won’t be a full series. We won’t have a 13-part run.” He blamed Moffat’s workload, specifically the fact that he is also the executive producer of Sherlock, the second series of which he is working on right now for the BBC. “That’s the genuine reason,” he assured questioners.

 

Moffat himself, meanwhile, took to Twitter again with a terse message: “Misquotes and misunderstandings. But I’m not being bounced into announcing the cool stuff before we’re ready.”

 

He reckons? Two days later, the BBC News website gave him one hell of a bounce, publishing a story with copious quotes from Cohen, putting the full blame on Moffat for the fact that there will not be a full series of Doctor Who next year: “Sherlock success will hit Doctor Who, says BBC1 boss.”

 

It took just minutes for a furious Moffat to strike back on Twitter: “The scheduling of Dr Who has got NOTHING to do with Sherlock.” In response to a message from fellow writer Neil Gaiman as to whether he was “being shafted”, Moffat replied publicly: “It’s not your imagination. Unbelievable. Unacceptable.” While the BBC amended its story to include Moffat’s denial, Cohen has declined to issue any kind of clarification.

 

So there you go. Doesn’t sound like there are any problems behind the scenes at all, does it? But in the meantime BBC Worldwide has already started reining back its plans for Doctor Who’s 50th anniversary in 2013 because it’s worried that demand for merchandise will have dropped due to the shortage of episodes between now and then – especially if the BBC goes with one plan now being mooted for the handful of 2012 episodes, that of broadcasting them stripped across a single week.

Edited June 23, 2011 by Dante

[mike-zim]

HHHHMMMM! that is not good news!

[Serebii]

Yeah this shit has been going on for weeks, just rumour and bull.

 

Doctor Who is one of the BBC's most popular and their most financially lucrative show. They're not going to fuck about with it

[Cube]

Doctor Who is one of the BBC's most popular and their most financially lucrative show. They're not going to fuck about with it

 

From the sounds of it, the bigwags at the BBC want it to canny on at full seasons.

[Serebii]

From the sounds of it, the bigwags at the BBC want it to canny on at full seasons.

As they should

 

This stuff really is just a load of bull with elements of truth

[Sméagol]

It is bullshit, because the BBC has [officially commisioned 14 new episodes featuring Matt Smith], along the 6 eps part of the 2nd half of the current season plus its Christmas special.

[Nintendohnut]

Oh, it must be 'Let's Make Up Some News Day'

 

Did you hear that The Queen has payed out £80 million from her own account for Fabio Capello to buy Messi from Argentina? Read it online.

[flameboy]

I did hear there were some problems with money etc... constantly decreasing budgets before reading what was posted above. I do wonder if at this point the BBC may look into relinquishing some of the control they have over the show to bring in funds and enable it to be better funded.

[Ashley]

Once again I ask "what takes them so damn long to make the bloody show?" Seriously :p

[Serebii]

Once again I ask "what takes them so damn long to make the bloody show?" Seriously :p

Perfection takes time. You should know this, you're a Nintendo fan.

[Ashley]

There's taking time then there's taking the piss. BSG could produce and air a whole 22 episode season in the time it takes to make 4 great episodes, 6 okay episodes and 2 filler episodes of Doctor Who.

[flameboy]

There's taking time then there's taking the piss. BSG could produce and air a whole 22 episode season in the time it takes to make 4 great episodes, 6 okay episodes and 2 filler episodes of Doctor Who.

 

Think a lot does come down to budgeting and what not....BSG bigger budget more writers/crew makes them a lot easier to churn out

[Ashley]

Comparing them is difficult because budgets are seldom announced but reports suggest Doctor Who is about £1million per episode and BSG was $1-1.5 million (or more for the big episodes like finales). Taking into consideration conversion rates they're about the same cost and Doctor Who has a cast of 2-4 main actors while BSG has a dozen. Plus I'd imagine it's cheaper to shoot in Wales than Vancouver (although that's purely speculative).

 

Besides I wasn't arguing that BSG looks nicer or anything, but rather it appears to be more cost effective. I am genuinely interested in why it takes so long for a whole season to get made. I'm sure there's a reason, I just want to know it

[flameboy]

Comparing them is difficult because budgets are seldom announced but reports suggest Doctor Who is about £1million per episode and BSG was $1-1.5 million (or more for the big episodes like finales). Taking into consideration conversion rates they're about the same cost and Doctor Who has a cast of 2-4 main actors while BSG has a dozen. Plus I'd imagine it's cheaper to shoot in Wales than Vancouver (although that's purely speculative).

 

Besides I wasn't arguing that BSG looks nicer or anything, but rather it appears to be more cost effective. I am genuinely interested in why it takes so long for a whole season to get made. I'm sure there's a reason, I just want to know it

 

You speculation is wrong both Vancouver and Toronto (which often replaces New York in many films Kick Ass being the most recent example I can think of) offer very very lucrative tax breaks. Canada knows where its at offering tax breaks to the entertainment industry you only have to look at the number of games developers setting up studios over there.

[Ashley]

Ah yes I had forgotten about tax breaks. Fair point. Its a shame the UK haven't quite realised this yet.

[Cube]

Ah yes I had forgotten about tax breaks. Fair point. Its a shame the UK haven't quite realised this yet.

 

Labour did. Then the Tories scrapped the whole thing.

[Ashley]

Labour planned to introduce them if they won the election. I can't help but think even they knew it wouldn't happen

[Serebii]

Torchwood: Miracle Day will air on every Thursday from the 14th of July at 9pm on BBCOne