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BBC Brand Strategy 2018-2022

Don't get me wrong, Moffat's definitely responsible for robbing us of more time with Matt Smith and Peter Capaldi, and the drunken YOU ARE ERASED FROM DOCTOR WHO rant at Carol Skinner defies explanation, but it's not like the man is literally Satan or something.

The tell-all books on the Moffat era are going to be fascinating, a couple of years from now. I for one remain curious about what exactly happened with Caro Skinner. She really seemed like a lovely person.
 
The tell-all books on the Moffat era are going to be fascinating, a couple of years from now. I for one remain curious about what exactly happened with Caro Skinner. She really seemed like a lovely person.
I largely didn't care about Davies' A Writer's Tale, but I'll definitely be interested behind-the-scenes books on the Moffat era, from him or otherwise.
 
I largely didn't care about Davies' A Writer's Tale, but I'll definitely be interested behind-the-scenes books on the Moffat era, from him or otherwise.

I think "from otherwise" would be the more honest option. If Moffat wrote it, he'd probably give himself godlike powers.
 
I don't know about any of the shows you're talking about. All I know, is that for a Greek fan, who grew up in Greece, Doctor Who was at least heard of since the late '90's. Its a show that has a legacy that transcends the country.

You'd know Strictly as Dancing with the Stars https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dancing_with_the_Stars_(Greek_TV_series) the format has been licensed to 42 different countries so that really has to be one of the BBC's biggest money-spinners
 
I think Who is in some trouble anyway, just through it's age. The average length of a show doesn't come close to lasting as long as the new run.

That doesn't mean it's doomed - the new direction could be great for the show, but I suspect the current format might need updating.
 
I think Who is in some trouble anyway, just through it's age. The average length of a show doesn't come close to lasting as long as the new run.

That doesn't mean it's doomed - the new direction could be great for the show, but I suspect the current format might need updating.

True but Who does at least have the inbuilt ability to reboot itself, although I guess this can backfire if the public don't engage with a new Doctor/showrunner). And some shows do run and run, Silent Witness has been running almost annually since 1996 and started its 21st season this week and it still gets good ratings. Yes it has cast turnover but the format hasn't altered, at least not whilst I've been watching it since Season 8)
 
True. I do think it's time to refresh Who though, and not just the cast and writing.

Maybe feature length standalones, or multipart serials...
 
Exactly my interpretation. They're producing content to fill 11 hour-long broadcast blocks. The shows themselves may not be an hour, but that's what a network should block out time for.

Why would the Beeb block out time for an hour and not have a show that lasted an hour? (give or take a minute or two)
 
Why would the Beeb block out time for an hour and not have a show that lasted an hour? (give or take a minute or two)

The magazine the quotes come from is a trade industry magazine, and its audience is people who want to buy Doctor Who or license it for their own products. It's helpful to that audience to know that Doctor Who is 1) an hour-long drama and 2) eleven episodes so they know that it fits their market. It makes sense for the BBC to say "over 11 hours of content," even if it's not literally true, because it communicates quickly points 1 and 2.

As for the BBC's scheduling and episode lengths, as an American I find both to be chaotic, but someone in the UK might conversely find American television schedules to be too regimented. :)
 
Yeah, maybe I'm being an ignorant North American here, but I find the idea of a show starting at quarter to the hour or whatever rather strange indeed. It clearly works for BBC, but it still seems weird to me. Just my $0.02.

Related, it was equally amusing that in North America, the programming block for Day of the Doctor started the nearest half hour mark before it began, and the next one after it ended, with fluff filler padding out the preceding and succeeding time gaps.
 
The magazine the quotes come from is a trade industry magazine, and its audience is people who want to buy Doctor Who or license it for their own products. It's helpful to that audience to know that Doctor Who is 1) an hour-long drama and 2) eleven episodes so they know that it fits their market. It makes sense for the BBC to say "over 11 hours of content," even if it's not literally true, because it communicates quickly points 1 and 2.

As for the BBC's scheduling and episode lengths, as an American I find both to be chaotic, but someone in the UK might conversely find American television schedules to be too regimented. :)

I suppose one advantage to having the ability to have some episode run longer is that you can avoid the padding that can come with stories that have been stretched to fill 2 parters.
 
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