Officially no series 8 in 2013

[Starkers]

Well that depends whether it's a family drama or not really, it's only described as a drama on the BBC press release and all they've said is that it'll air in 2014. It has a pretty heavyweight cast and for all we know it might be headed for the Call the Midwife early slot on a Sunday or the Sunday 9pm slot ala Sherlock/Ripper Street etc.

Not to say it won't air on a Saturday, but with Atlantis the BBC were upfront that this was Saturday evening show. They're being cagier with this.

[StCoop]

Starkers wrote:

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Not to say it won't air on a Saturday, but with Atlantis the BBC were upfront that this was Saturday evening show. They're being cagier with this.

Well the offical Blurb talks about it in much the same terms that Robin Hood/Merlin/DW got talked about.

"The series bursts with escapism, adventure and romance and is set to thrill audiences with cracking stories of the week."

Not very post-watershed sounding.

[Starkers]

No it doesn't sound like Ripper Street...

[FreddyE]

"Cancelation by constant pushing back to later in the year", anyone? Just to play devils advocate.

[Starkers]

Nah if the BBC wanted to cancel it I'm pretty sure they'd just cancel it, anc cancelling in in it's 50th anniversary year? I can't see that.

[diankra]

I don't see it being cancelled, but I do wonder if BBC1 are no longer building it in as a tentpole of the schedule, which could end up with them dropping seasons altogether in favour of four or five specials to run at bank holidays as convenient.

[Starkers]

diankra wrote:

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I don't see it being cancelled, but I do wonder if BBC1 are no longer building it in as a tentpole of the schedule, which could end up with them dropping seasons altogether in favour of four or five specials to run at bank holidays as convenient.

Hmm, the Jonathan Creek scenario!

I hope not, obviously it would be preferable to them cancelling the show, but I didn't like the Specials year, I'd rather take 5/6 episodes ala series 7a to strung out specials.

[StCoop]

While they have confirmed that there will be a Series 8 next year, I have just realised that they haven't said how many episodes it will be. (I'm not going back to check them all but they did confirm 14 episodes for Series 7.)

[Allyn Gibson]

diankra wrote:

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I don't see it being cancelled, but I do wonder if BBC1 are no longer building it in as a tentpole of the schedule, which could end up with them dropping seasons altogether in favour of four or five specials to run at bank holidays as convenient.

That's possible and it may make sense in the short term, but I'm not sure how viable it would be over the long term from a production standpoint. The Writer's Tale indicates that RTD and Gardner had difficulty getting money for the Specials Year, partly because foreign broadcasters weren't interested in it.

StCoop wrote:

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While they have confirmed that there will be a Series 8 next year, I have just realised that they haven't said how many episodes it will be. (I'm not going back to check them all but they did confirm 14 episodes for Series 7.)

If the coproduction or outsourcing rumors are true, it's possible that the BBC itself doesn't know yet because they're still negotiating the deal and don't know what their production partners are in for and want.

If the BBC America coproduction rumors are true, I'd expect a run in the Copper or Ripper Street model -- eight to ten episodes broadcast in a single block.

[StCoop]

Allyn Gibson wrote:

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If the BBC America coproduction rumors are true, I'd expect a run in the Copper or Ripper Street model -- eight to ten episodes broadcast in a single block.

After hearing they were co-producing AAIS&T I'd have thought a BBC America deal was likely but they also seem to be throwing money around on lots of different projects at the moment and they can't have that an unlimited amount in the budget.

[Allyn Gibson]

StCoop wrote:

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After hearing they were co-producing AAIS&T I'd have thought a BBC America deal was likely but they also seem to be throwing money around on lots of different projects at the moment and they can't have that an unlimited amount in the budget.

I think coproducing Doctor Who is something BBC America would want to do. At the same time, you're right -- their budget isn't bottomless. I doubt they have seven or eight million dollars sitting free in the bank, plus they're on the hook for the programming they've already committed to (like the second season of Copper) or been committed to (like the second season of Ripper Street). I do think they could pull the money together, but that wouldn't happen overnight.

Also, I think that BBC America would want to be more than just BBC Wales' purse. Cardiff would probably prefer to take the money and run, but I can't see New York tolerating that if they're buying in in a significant way; they don't like the short, split seasons, and the nonsense over the broadcast date last year rankled. If there's a negotiation going on, that's going to be a sticking point.

Finally, I think now would be too early for BBC America to announce a coproduction agreement on series 8 anyway. They would want to wait until after the ratings were in on the 7B premiere so they could say that the show has been successful for them and now they're buying in. In other words, think back to the way the series 2 announcement was made in 2005 (setting aside all the concomitant Eccleston stuff); the ratings were in on "Rose," and the BBC trumpeted that to say that they had commissioned a second series. If Doctor Who becomes a BBC America coproduction, that would be the time to look for an announcement, the first week of April.

[diankra]

Allyn Gibson wrote:

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That's possible and it may make sense in the short term, but I'm not sure how viable it would be over the long term from a production standpoint. The Writer's Tale indicates that RTD and Gardner had difficulty getting money for the Specials Year, partly because foreign broadcasters weren't interested in it.

Tha would be a problem.
I was thinking of it from the point of view of Danny Cohen, or whoever the BBC1 Controller happens to be.
What he wants is simple: three family drama series which he can schedule for 7/7.30pm from January, Easter and September, knowing they'll pull in a reliable five to eight million to hand over to whatever talent show he's running next, leading into the lottery and Casualty. Doctor Who, Merlin/Atlantis and something else would do just fine.
But with the Who delivery dates becoming so erratic, he's not getting that. The sensible thing for him to do then would be to go for Merlin/Atlantis, something else, and another something else, and just slot in Who specials at Christmas, Easter, May Day and the autumn season launch to provide an extra 'ooomph' to that night, as suits him.
Ultimately, the customer is always right. And he's the customer... or maybe the retailer would be the right word, with BBC Wales as the wholesaler, and us as the customers.

[Starkers]

Allyn Gibson wrote:

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That's possible and it may make sense in the short term, but I'm not sure how viable it would be over the long term from a production standpoint. The Writer's Tale indicates that RTD and Gardner had difficulty getting money for the Specials Year, partly because foreign broadcasters weren't interested in it.

If the coproduction or outsourcing rumors are true, it's possible that the BBC itself doesn't know yet because they're still negotiating the deal and don't know what their production partners are in for and want.

If the BBC America coproduction rumors are true, I'd expect a run in the Copper or Ripper Street model -- eight to ten episodes broadcast in a single block.

I could live with that (preferably 10)

I believe BBC America are part funding the Three Musketeers as well...

[Konata Izumi]

I just noticed, they didn't do one series over two years exactly, but instead moved to the inevitable 8 episode budgeting last year already, taking the anniversary episodes from last year's budget:

8+Xmas - 60min - 90min = 5+Xmas
It's not perfectly exact but it's very close.

Of course it's the same to us, but from BBC's point of view it's probably like that.

[StCoop]

JLC confirmed on the radio today that Matt Smith will be away for four months shooting his film and it will actually now be September before they start shooting the Xmas Special.

So that means it will be October before they start shooting Series 8 and there's no way they could have the complete series ready to air in Spring next year.