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Doctor Who due a major shake-up as bosses aim for 'brand new show' in 2018

Relayer1 said:
I stand by Moffat's tenure as being devoid of the real dreck that was the worst that RTD foisted on us
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I love all eras of Who, but I agree here... even Moffat at his worse has never been farting blob aliens, whatever the hell Voyage of the Damned was, or Barack Obama's head spinning around, which made me and my family exchange looks across the livingroom. :wtf:
 
Nightowl1701 said:
Well, after a whole year off, Doctor Who managed only a measly 5.68 million share in the UK ratings with its Christmas special, just barely edging out ITV's Emmerdale in its time slot. Coronation Street beat it in the ratings, albeit not by much.

For BBC execs, it must be starting to look like 1986 all over again... :brickwall:
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no spoilers, but was it any good?

Relayer1 said:
Whilst the Christmas special was nowhere near as bad as I'd expected, it looked cheap and amateurish.

Capaldi is fantastic, and I stand by Moffat's tenure as being devoid of the real dreck that was the worst that RTD foisted on us, but...Who's past it's sell by date.

It's time for cancellation or a wholesale rethink...
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I enjoyed most of RTD's tenure. Granted, there were a few things which should never have occurred, and towards the end certainly was some tired retreads of earlier plot themes and old cliches, but Moffat started getting tired pretty quickly too, IMO.
The Missy plotline had a lot of promise and horrible execution
 
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Christopher said:
No need for such drastic measures. In the past, all Doctor Who needed to refresh itself was a new producer (showrunner in modern terms).
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I'd like to believe that, but I'm not convinced. The current format isn't working any more (O.K., your mileage may vary) and I think the 45 minute episode is at least partially to blame.

Maybe longer 90 minute episodes, maybe multi-part stories, maybe shorter episodes, I don't know, but it seems to me more than a change of cast and production staff is called for.

Who has been back a while now - it's up to ten seasons. How many shows last that long ?

I hope you're right Christopher - we'll see...
 
I don't think there's anything wrong with the format. It isn't the format or the subject matter or any of the surface elements of a show that determine its quality -- it's the skill and technique that go into their execution. Technique is under the surface, so it's not easy for laypeople to recognize, which is why laypeople always try to blame their dissatisfaction on something else that they can see.

Relayer1 said:
Who has been back a while now - it's up to ten seasons. How many shows last that long ?
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But that's just what I'm saying. The secret to the original Doctor Who's 26-year run was that it changed more than most shows. It periodically replaced both its stars and its creators every few years, so that the show remained fresh and evolved into a new show every so often. That was what made it different from a show that kept the same people around and eventually ran out of juice.

In the history of the show, the only people to serve as producers/showrunners for more than three years have been Barry Letts (5 years), John Nathan-Turner (over 9 years), Russell T. Davies (nearly 5 years), and Steven Moffat (about 7 years so far). It seems that 3-5 years came to be seen as a fairly standard term for a Doctor; maybe something similar should be true for showrunners as well.
 
Well, as there's probably zero chance of changes outside of cast and crew, it will be down to that, and what the BBC are prepared to sanction.

You can do a fair bit different in a 45 minute show, but will they ?
 
I'd liker to see Capaldi for another year. I don't think we've seen his full potential.

I get the Beeb wants a 10/11, but is it about the quality or the money? Yeah, I know.
 
Well, after a whole year off, Doctor Who managed only a measly 5.68 million share in the UK ratings with its Christmas special, just barely edging out ITV's Emmerdale in its time slot. Coronation Street beat it in the ratings, albeit not by much.
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They are overnights, which always low ball everything especially over Xmas. It was only 1.6 million behind the number 1 most watched show, which had the primetime slot. Less people watch TV live these days even over Christmas but the finals will boost the ratings significantly. BBC also cares more about the audience share % more than ratings anyway.
 
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Jax said:
They are overnights, which always low ball everything especially over Xmas. It was only 1.6 million behind the number 1 most watched show, which had the primetime slot. Less people watch TV live these days even over Christmas but the finals will boost the ratings significantly. BBC also cares more about the audience share % more than ratings anyway.
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Ratings have been going down for awhile, which is why the BBC wants a change in the first place.

First of all, it's hard to see who to blame, Moffat or the BBC. Moffat certainly didn't bring his A-game. I mean look at how good Sherlock is. The BBC doesn't help with all the budget cuts, delays and this year's Hiatus.
 
Yeah, the BBC might want to consider that if declining ratings is your problem, taking the show off the air for a whole year might not be the best solution....
 
I blame Moffat because despite the fan base is still a passionate bunch there are plenty in the ranks who are unhappy with his treatment of the show as of late. Imagine what that must do for a casual viewer. Also factor in that for every good episode, we've had three episodes that are a mix of ok, bad or rehash. Doctor Who is essentially where Star Trek was in the early 2000s - tired and in need of something bold.

The trouble is that Doctor Who will do this but, much like 1989, it'll be too late.
 
ClayinCA said:
Yeah, the BBC might want to consider that if declining ratings is your problem, taking the show off the air for a whole year might not be the best solution....
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I think Dr Who is suffering from the very same thing that the Star Trek Beyond movie was hit by, it was away for too long and by the time it came back many just did not bother with it when it returned, sort of lost it's momentum and went off the boil.

If only the BBC would do this with all the soaps, sell your old junk shows and cooking shows, would be great. Lol
 
The real problem with Star Trek Beyond was the lack of marketing support for the film. For a summer tentpole, it had no marketing oomph behind it. Paramount just threw it out there and said, "Here you go." If fans were indifferent to the film, it's because they barely knew it was there.
 
The worst thing about the way Beyond was mishandled is that it wasn't until Anton Yelchin's death that anyone even talked about the movie in the general public. And that was pretty much a month exactly prior to release. If that accident hadn't happened, would anyone in the general public even be talking about the movie at all before it was released?
 
There was also very little marketing regarding the fact it was coming out during the 50th anniversary year.
 
Haggis and tatties said:
I think Dr Who is suffering from the very same thing that the Star Trek Beyond movie was hit by, it was away for too long and by the time it came back many just did not bother with it when it returned, sort of lost it's momentum and went off the boil.

If only the BBC would do this with all the soaps, sell your old junk shows and cooking shows, would be great. Lol
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Sherlock fans just laugh at this.

Fan- Try waiting every 2 years for three episodes and then nothing for the foreseeable future.

I don't know if anyone here watched "Young Justice" but the delays remind me of that.

They aired one episode after a month long break then went back to a break AFTER the break.

That pretty much killed it's momentum with kids who found other things to watch


At least when season 4 of Doctor Who ended in July 2008 we had a 2008 christmas special followed by an easter special and then in November "The Water of Mars" then in December "The End of Time"

Things didn't feel so empty when we didn't have a full season of Doctor Who

It was surviving July to Christmas that was rough
 
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