This question is aimed at our many British friends.
I just read that The Beast Below episode is going to air much earlier than the norm for Doctor Who:
http://gallifreynewsbase.blogspot.com/2010/03/beast-below-schedule.html
Every week, it seems, we hear how DW airs at 6:30 one week, 7:05 the next, 6:15 the next, 7:30 the next (I'm just pulling times out of thin air, but you get the picture).
Here in North America, a show is assigned a time slot, say 8 PM, and it usually stays there from week to week. Networks will shift a show around, but usually not on a week by week basis, especially once a winning timeslot is found.
So I have to ask -- is this bouncing around of Doctor Who on the schedule as annoying to you as it seems to be from our (non UK) perspective? Or are you just used to it? After all, I know this is not a new thing for DW by any means. It must be a huge pain for setting recorders in advance, or making plans, if you don't know when the thing is going to be on from one week to the next. (Granted, with legal and non-legal options available for online viewing it's not quite the big deal it was back in Tom Baker's day, but still...)
Can't the BBC just plant Doctor Who on at, say, 7 PM on Saturday and leave it be for 13 weeks? Especially considering it's supposed to be their #1 or 2 show. Or is having a fluid schedule one of the prices to be paid for not airing commercials (which serve to standardize timeslots)?
Alex
I just read that The Beast Below episode is going to air much earlier than the norm for Doctor Who:
http://gallifreynewsbase.blogspot.com/2010/03/beast-below-schedule.html
Every week, it seems, we hear how DW airs at 6:30 one week, 7:05 the next, 6:15 the next, 7:30 the next (I'm just pulling times out of thin air, but you get the picture).
Here in North America, a show is assigned a time slot, say 8 PM, and it usually stays there from week to week. Networks will shift a show around, but usually not on a week by week basis, especially once a winning timeslot is found.
So I have to ask -- is this bouncing around of Doctor Who on the schedule as annoying to you as it seems to be from our (non UK) perspective? Or are you just used to it? After all, I know this is not a new thing for DW by any means. It must be a huge pain for setting recorders in advance, or making plans, if you don't know when the thing is going to be on from one week to the next. (Granted, with legal and non-legal options available for online viewing it's not quite the big deal it was back in Tom Baker's day, but still...)
Can't the BBC just plant Doctor Who on at, say, 7 PM on Saturday and leave it be for 13 weeks? Especially considering it's supposed to be their #1 or 2 show. Or is having a fluid schedule one of the prices to be paid for not airing commercials (which serve to standardize timeslots)?
Alex