Series 7 confirmed by BBC

[Allyn Gibson]

* 'There are fears that the second tranche of episodes may be even be completed in time for BBC Worldwide to release a DVD box set of the series in time for the christmas market.

That makes no sense. The filming for the back-half is done, it's all in post-production now. So unless Moffat and his team blew all the post-production budget on hookers and blow, leaving nothing for the post-production work, there's no chance that the back-half won't air in September and won't be released on DVD in November.

 

[Lonemagpie]

* 'There are fears that the second tranche of episodes may be even be completed in time for BBC Worldwide to release a DVD box set of the series in time for the christmas market.

That makes no sense. The filming for the back-half is done, it's all in post-production now. So unless Moffat and his team blew all the post-production budget on hookers and blow, leaving nothing for the post-production work, there's no chance that the back-half won't air in September and won't be released on DVD in November.

Indeed - which means Private Eye and the Sun are talking demonstrable bollocks.

 

[Chaos Descending]

... a charity special (as "The Five Doctors" was) ...

Errr... what?

 

[Allyn Gibson]

... a charity special (as "The Five Doctors" was) ...

Errr... what?

I think he means "The Other Five Doctors." In other words, "Dimensions in Time."

I don't think that the BBC would consent to a charity special for a multi-doctor anniversary spectacular.

 

[Chaos Descending]

I don't think anyone EVER means "Dimensions in Time".

 

[Samurai8472]

Where hopefully he'll punch David Tennant and nick the torch...

(That might just be my fantasy!)

10- HEY!!

Eleven- Sorry! You know the procedure! Time can be rewritten!

 

[MacLeod]

Perhaps he is wanting to do the rumored 2 specials in 2013, instead of 13 episodes +1 special.

After all maybe that way he will have more money to spect on doing something special for the Golden Anniversary of DW.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

I have to ask.

Does anyone genuinely expect there to be a "year of specials" or a "gap year" ever again?

Even if BBC Wales says, "Whoa, we want to take a breather," even if the Corporation says, "Funding's down," the willingness of BBC America to cofund some of this year and the need of BBC Worldwide to have product to push demonstrates that there are other parties who have a vested interest in Doctor Who continuing on a regular basis who will, if need be, open the checkbook.

Even the argument that the 2009 gap year was needed for Moffat to get his production team up to speed doesn't wash, because the old series swapped producers in its early days the way people swap socks on a daily basis, and American television series replace showrunners, sometimes in the middle of the season, without breaking stride. There's nothing magical about Doctor Who that would keep a new production team from either learning the ropes while the old team transitions out or simply picking up the ropes when the old team drops them.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

Where hopefully he'll punch David Tennant and nick the torch...

(That might just be my fantasy!)

I think it would be funnier the other way around.

 

[Bacl]

Does anyone genuinely expect there to be a "year of specials" or a "gap year" ever again?

I hope not. I really, really hope not.

In my opinion, the year of specials was a big mistake. Whatever they were trying to accomplish with that, they failed.

I'm not sure if the real (i.e. real, not public-friendly press-speak nonsense) reason for doing a year of specials instead of a proper season was ever uncovered, but it was the biggest mistake.

I also feel that spending nearly two years emphasizing that the Doctor was going to die was a tonal mistake as well. It robbed of us time where the show was just the show, instead of an endless prelude to a known eventuality. Making such a big announcement about who the next Doctor was nearly a year before DT left was also a bad move.

Eccleston's departure was the right way to go. He dies at the end of an epic 2 parter, his death is not foreshadowed and is intrinsic to the plot and the character.

And most importantly, it is remembered that a new actor is playing the same character. I still can't believe they had the nerve to say, "You know what? We're so special that we're gonna come right out and say that David Tennant regenerating is really the same as death. I don't want to go! Enjoy, Matt Smith, ha!" Same man, new face, k thnx.

 

[Sindatur]

So...about the Specials year, was it just a false marketing story, that those Specials were commisioned (instead of a full 13 ep + Christmas Special) so David Tennant could have time to do other things?

Or are people just Conspiracy Theorizing?

 

[Bacl]

So...about the Specials year, was it just a false marketing story, that those Specials were commisioned (instead of a full 13 ep + Christmas Special) so David Tennant could have time to do other things?

Or are people just Conspiracy Theorizing?

It is hard to read the truth through the "Everything is fine! Yay!" press-speak that they give, but my best guess is its main reason was to keep Tennant through the allure of a super light schedule. He was ready to jump, and was worn thin, and Doctor WHo requires an intense amount of time and effort. They started by coming up with a plan to keep him as the Doctor yet not actually film a proper season. I'm sure other nonsense got tangled up in there as well, but I'd bet the impetus was DT wanting to leave and them trying to figure out how to keep him around just a bit longer.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

If you listen to Ian Levine, Davies, Gardner, and Tennant all intended to quit, and the BBC planned on using that as the opportunity to end the series at the end of the fourth season, but he confronted the BBC with secret memos and shamed everyone -- Davies, Gardner, and Tennant to stay for a bunch of specials, and the BBC to find a new showrunner in the form of Moffat -- and thus, Ian Levine single-handedly saved Doctor Who.

I don't know why the Earth isn't thrown off its axis by the mass of that ego.

If you take The Writer's Tale as gospel, the gap year was planned all along. The main problem with the gap year wasn't that it existed, it was that RTD has no idea what to do with it narratively. A slightly lesser problem was that, because it wasn't a full series, getting money out of the BBC to fund it was difficult.

 

[Sindatur]

So...about the Specials year, was it just a false marketing story, that those Specials were commisioned (instead of a full 13 ep + Christmas Special) so David Tennant could have time to do other things?

Or are people just Conspiracy Theorizing?

It is hard to read the truth through the "Everything is fine! Yay!" press-speak that they give, but my best guess is its main reason was to keep Tennant through the allure of a super light schedule. He was ready to jump, and was worn thin, and Doctor WHo requires an intense amount of time and effort. They started by coming up with a plan to keep him as the Doctor yet not actually film a proper season. I'm sure other nonsense got tangled up in there as well, but I'd bet the impetus was DT wanting to leave and them trying to figure out how to keep him around just a bit longer.

That doesn't/wouldn't surprise me in the slightest, I mean, if it was to give him time to do other stuff, that;'s pretty much a prelude to his leaving.

However, the confusing part, is so many seem to be stating as fact, that the BBC cut back the number of episodes due to waning popularity and/or to reduce expense

 

[Turbo]

... a charity special (as "The Five Doctors" was) ...

Errr... what?

I think he means "The Other Five Doctors." In other words, "Dimensions in Time."

I don't think that the BBC would consent to a charity special for a multi-doctor anniversary spectacular.

No, I meant "The Five Doctors"; it was broadcast as part of Children in Need in the UK (even though it didn't start out that way). I was thinking that a similarly timed broadcast might help lure Eccleston back.

 

[Chaos Descending]

Errr... what?

I think he means "The Other Five Doctors." In other words, "Dimensions in Time."

I don't think that the BBC would consent to a charity special for a multi-doctor anniversary spectacular.

No, I meant "The Five Doctors"; it was broadcast as part of Children in Need in the UK (even though it didn't start out that way). I was thinking that a similarly timed broadcast might help lure Eccleston back.

"The Five Doctors" was never intended to be a charity episode and was never intended to be a part of Children in Need. The decision was made to delay it a couple days to coincide with Children in Need once it was already done and in the can, but no one who made the episode was ever under the impression that it was anything but Doctor Who's 20th Anniversary celebration.

 

[Starkers]

Does anyone genuinely expect there to be a "year of specials" or a "gap year" ever again?

I hope not. I really, really hope not.

In my opinion, the year of specials was a big mistake. Whatever they were trying to accomplish with that, they failed.

I'm not sure if the real (i.e. real, not public-friendly press-speak nonsense) reason for doing a year of specials instead of a proper season was ever uncovered, but it was the biggest mistake.

I also feel that spending nearly two years emphasizing that the Doctor was going to die was a tonal mistake as well. It robbed of us time where the show was just the show, instead of an endless prelude to a known eventuality. Making such a big announcement about who the next Doctor was nearly a year before DT left was also a bad move.

Eccleston's departure was the right way to go. He dies at the end of an epic 2 parter, his death is not foreshadowed and is intrinsic to the plot and the character.

And most importantly, it is remembered that a new actor is playing the same character. I still can't believe they had the nerve to say, "You know what? We're so special that we're gonna come right out and say that David Tennant regenerating is really the same as death. I don't want to go! Enjoy, Matt Smith, ha!" Same man, new face, k thnx.

Yeah, even though I quite liked The End of Time, can't disagree with any of that!

If you take The Writer's Tale as gospel, the gap year was planned all along. The main problem with the gap year wasn't that it existed, it was that RTD has no idea what to do with it narratively. A slightly lesser problem was that, because it wasn't a full series, getting money out of the BBC to fund it was difficult.

Yeah the specials were just too strung out, and not nearly linked enough, I'd have rather they did a 6/7 episode mini series--probably wouldn't have cost much more, especially if they dropped Dubai!

 

[Samurai8472]

http://www.digitalspy.com/british-t...is-not-being-cut-down-says-steven-moffat.html

Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat has denied that the show's episode count has been reduced.

Moffat told The Daily Beast that rumors of cuts to the sci-fi drama are "absolute nonsense".

"First of all, we are airing in 2012," he insisted. "The only thing that's happening is that we're moving a bit later. There's lots of reasons for that that will become clear quite soon."

The writer added that Doctor Who has "never been more successful" and now has a "huge" international profile.

"It is certainly not a reduced episode count," he reiterated. "Do you think the BBC would really let that happen? With an average audience of 10 million?"

He continued: "You're not going to reduce a show like this. The opposite is going to happen, in fact."

Moffat also promised that many of Doctor Who's lingering plot threads will be resolved by the end of the current series.

The show returns to BBC One this Saturday at 7.10pm and airs the same day at 9/8c on BBC America.

 

[ClayinCA]

He continued: "You're not going to reduce a show like this. The opposite is going to happen, in fact."

Hmmmm...wonder if that means they're going to increase the episode count??

 

[Mark_Nguyen]

More importantly, they've pretty much confirmed that they won't be airing in spring 2012. So, the rumours of Fall 2012 for a half or full season, perhaps building into a 2013 anniversary year mega blitz of Who goodness, may be confirmed...

Mark