Background is beginning to come out:
https://www.bleedingcool.com/2017/1...ne-puffer-fish-acrostic/#.WfrVOeblFHc.twitter
https://www.bleedingcool.com/2017/1...ne-puffer-fish-acrostic/#.WfrVOeblFHc.twitter
That'll be the Watcher gone from DWM, then...
- Thread starter Lonemagpie
- Start date
Never realized it was such a secret that Nick Pegg was the Watcher.
The story is that BBC Worldwide wanted a more pliable editor than Tom Spilsbury could manage, and arranged his ousting. The ‘Class’ criticism thing seems a bit peculiar*, but Private Eye makes it clear that the Beeb were just looking for excuses.
* Why not go with the article that mildly pointed out that 2015’s ratings were a tiny bit disappointing?
* Why not go with the article that mildly pointed out that 2015’s ratings were a tiny bit disappointing?
The thing is, assuming that narrative is true, BBC Worldwide never needed an excuse. DWM is a licensed publication; at any point BBCW could step in and say, "Our property, our rules."
Not really. Panini choose the editor. Of course, Worldwide could imply "Cooperate, or we won't renew your licence," but that would only take effect when the licence came up for renewal.
Of course, withdrawing set access would be disastrous for DWM... in those rare months when the show is actually on air.
Here's hoping Chibnall can return a sense of regularity to the show.
Based on some of the stories told in DWM #500, I don't think anyone at the BBC did approve the magazine. Basically at a certain point during the "wilderness years" the BBC basically stopped caring and the mag just did what it wanted without any direct oversight from that point on. And thanks to Russell's love for the magazine, once the show came back, that status quo was maintained. Definitely weird in this modern world of brand managers, but maybe now with Moffatt on the way out, those days are over.
I've only been reading DWM since 2007, but I really enjoyed the majority of the Spilsbury years. I don't think a better franchise tie-in magazine has ever been made than DWM. Genuinely insightful and interesting-- way better than even Star Trek Communicator and Star Wars Insider at their heights.
Did DWM even review Class, actually?
The BBC never sent them any Publicity Material, Interview Offers or Review Copies so it got ignored by them; much as it was by the rest of the world.
I don't recall the magazine getting political all that often. When it did, it tended to be in the form of statements made by interview subjects (including some of Peter Davison's anti-Brexit views, Toby Whithouse admitting that "The Lie of the Land" was heavily influenced by the "fake news" phenomenon, and Steven Moffat not mincing any words when a reader asked who the Doctor would vote for in the American presidential election). I suppose the editorial staff still decided to print the material and ask the questions, but it's not like they can control how other people answer. It's probably more political than most entertainment magazines tend to get but also pretty par for the course for individuals within the entertainment industry.
Our friends in the espionage community! [Cue Burn Notice narration here.]
Reminds me of the Simpsons episode where Homer's mother sent him secret messages in the newspaper like this to let him know that she's still alive.
It's a sandwich cooked in a grill press. How such a device is qualified to publish a magazine, I do not know.
Our friends in the espionage community! [Cue Burn Notice narration here.]
Reminds me of the Simpsons episode where Homer's mother sent him secret messages in the newspaper like this to let him know that she's still alive.
It's a sandwich cooked in a grill press. How such a device is qualified to publish a magazine, I do not know.
For Brits of a certain age (moi) Panini evokes memories of packets of stickers and the albums to stick them in (usually football but think I had a Buck Rogers one and a ROTJ one) swapsies with friends and never being able to complete because you couldn't get that one sticker of Gordon Strachan or Jabba the Hutt (though you could send away)
Me too, well actually not so much with the "memories" as they're still going pretty strong, despite greater competition within their market and from other interests.
Bringing in Marcus Hearn reminds me of that old Yes Prime Minister computer game. It’s the equivalent of Sir Humphrey in that game shuffling an investigation into a civil servant’s Soviet links to “a House of Lords inquiry, possibly under Lord Williams”, thus killing it.
as i said, Installing Hearn is the BBC’s version of Sir Humphrey shifting things to a toothless “inquiry” under Lord Williams. Hearn will do what he’s been put there to do.
Did he? For what exactly?
I don't know. But I stand by my opinion that what he did was funny.