Series 8 for Autumn 2014

[Snick27]

Series 8 for Autumn 2014
PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER 3, 2013
I't was originally rumoured that Peter Capaldi’s debut series will not air until August 2014. Moffat then said that late Summer 2014 was “probably right.”

Today, in the Media Guardian’s 100 list, the section on Steven Moffat notes that Series 8 will not air until autumn 2014.

It states:

Doctor Who may not be quite the force it was when it returned with Christopher Eccleston and in its David Tennant heyday in the UK, but has a growing audience in the US on cable channel BBC America.

It will not return next year until the autumn, giving it plenty of time to recharge batteries. And what better way to do that than with a new Doctor?

With filming on the run not beginning until January 2014 and the usual nine month filming schedule, autumn always seemed more likely.

So once this year’s Christmas special has concluded, it seems that there will be more long waits. Hopefully with the payoff being no split this time. Although earlier rumours did point to the series being slightly reduced, with 12 episodes instead of 13.

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It's a shame that between May 2013 and September 2014, in its 50th year, we are only getting TWO episodes. And bet we get 6 episodes in 2014 and other 6 in 2015.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

And bet we get 6 episodes in 2014 and other 6 in 2015.

It's difficult to say how the BBC will schedule the series a year from now, but even so, I wouldn't make that bet.

The BBC needs to recapture the momentum that's been squandered the last two years, and splitting another season, especially when trying to launch a new Doctor, doesn't achieve that goal. If Moffat tried to argue for a split season, I suspect he'd be laughed out of the room unless he had a damned compelling reason for why it had to be done.

If the rumors are true that Moffat is bowing out next year, then there's no reason for the BBC to not hold Moffat's feet to the fire. If they know they're going to have to replace him anyway, there's no need to make adjustments for him to keep him. And if there's any validity to the rumors of Cumberbatch and Star Wars, then the BBC can do the math and realize that there won't be any more Sherlock. Placating Moffat is no longer a priority.

(Hmm. I'm suddenly reminded of the opening scenes of Lawrence Miles' Alien Bodies, when UNISYC realizes that the Doctor can die, so they try to kill him knowing that there's now a chance they could succeed.)

And that's not even getting into what the BBC's broadcast and commercial partners will need next autumn. There, the BBC really needs to repair the bridges that the last two years have burned. There are people who have been sold a bill of goods and left to hang while the BBC has produced Doctor Who dilettantishly. Money has been left on the table. Splitting another season tells these licensees that there's no real good reason to support Doctor Who if the BBC isn't going to support them back.

In short, the BBC needs a straight run next autumn. They need it for themselves. They need it for their retail partners. They need it to reestablish Doctor Who in the minds of the not-we.

If they do a split season spanning 2014/2015, then the BBC isn't serious about Doctor Who and its future.

 

[Snick27]

And bet we get 6 episodes in 2014 and other 6 in 2015.

It's difficult to say how the BBC will schedule the series a year from now, but even so, I wouldn't make that bet.

The BBC needs to recapture the momentum that's been squandered the last two years, and splitting another season, especially when trying to launch a new Doctor, doesn't achieve that goal. If Moffat tried to argue for a split season, I suspect he'd be laughed out of the room unless he had a damned compelling reason for why it had to be done.

If the rumors are true that Moffat is bowing out next year, then there's no reason for the BBC to not hold Moffat's feet to the fire. If they know they're going to have to replace him anyway, there's no need to make adjustments for him to keep him. And if there's any validity to the rumors of Cumberbatch and Star Wars, then the BBC can do the math and realize that there won't be any more Sherlock. Placating Moffat is no longer a priority.

(Hmm. I'm suddenly reminded of the opening scenes of Lawrence Miles' Alien Bodies, when UNISYC realizes that the Doctor can die, so they try to kill him knowing that there's now a chance they could succeed.)

And that's not even getting into what the BBC's broadcast and commercial partners will need next autumn. There, the BBC really needs to repair the bridges that the last two years have burned. There are people who have been sold a bill of goods and left to hang while the BBC has produced Doctor Who dilettantishly. Money has been left on the table. Splitting another season tells these licensees that there's no real good reason to support Doctor Who if the BBC isn't going to support them back.

In short, the BBC needs a straight run next autumn. They need it for themselves. They need it for their retail partners. They need it to reestablish Doctor Who in the minds of the not-we.

If they do a split season spanning 2014/2015, then the BBC isn't serious about Doctor Who and its future.

I really don't see how they can air all 12 because themselves have said it takes 9 months or more to shoot. Then more time for special effects. Since they don't start filming till mid Jan 2014 that leds to Sept or Oct.

Plus with the rumored 2015 shut down of the show I really don't have much faith to be honest.
Hope your right though but I probably wont be watching anyway.
I will just enjoy the 50th and Matts last episode at Christmas and be done.

 

[Brendan Moody]

Yeah, if they're not starting filming until January, then they'll be hard pressed to have a full series for the rumored August start date. Either they're now targeting October rather than August, or they're looking at another split season. (Or they're doing twelve episodes rather than thirteen and planning a very tight timeframe.) And really, whatever perception of squandered momentum and lost profit may exist, the split seasons of the past few years have worked as well as full runs in terms of the show's overall performance.

 

[Snick27]

Yeah, if they're not starting filming until January, then they'll be hard pressed to have a full series for the rumored August start date. Either they're now targeting October rather than August, or they're looking at another split season. (Or they're doing twelve episodes rather than thirteen and planning a very tight timeframe.) And really, whatever perception of squandered momentum and lost profit may exist, the split seasons of the past few years have worked as well as full runs in terms of the show's overall performance.

Not when they could of had 4 series in 4 years instead of 3 in 4yrs for Matt. That's a whole season worth of DVD's they lost money on plus ratings etc.

And I feel last series/season was the worst yet.

And don't Autumn start at the end of September anyway?
So be hard to get all of them in. Really why rush them as ratings have been good right?

 

[Brendan Moody]

Well, quite aside from the fact that the BBC doesn't judge the success of its programming decisions by DVD revenues or the opinions of individual message board members, split series and lost series don't have to go hand in hand. If they keep making 14 (or 13) episodes a year and split them across spring and autumn, that's not much different in terms of revenues from a straight run.

 

[Snick27]

Well, quite aside from the fact that the BBC doesn't judge the success of its programming decisions by DVD revenues or the opinions of individual message board members, split series and lost series don't have to go hand in hand. If they keep making 14 (or 13) episodes a year and split them across spring and autumn, that's not much different in terms of revenues from a straight run.

Yes there is cause they don't make 12 episodes each year. Season 7 was from 2012-2013. Season 8 is 2014-2015. So 1 year worth of 12/13 episodes not being made.

We should of gotten 4 series/seasons of Matt Smith, we got 3.

We should be already watching season 8 this year as we should of watched season 7 all last year.


Just sucks that after the Christmas special we have to wait till Sept/Oct (9-10 months) to watch any new doctor who again.

We already have to wait from March 2013 till Nov 2013 (8 months) till the 50th.

Not a good way to attract new fans to the show.

 

[RoJoHen]

Doctor Who may not be quite the force it was when it returned with Christopher Eccleston and in its David Tennant heyday in the UK, but has a growing audience in the US on cable channel BBC America.

This actually intrigues me quite a bit. I realize that I am coming from the American perspective, but it's crazy to me just how popular Doctor Who has become around here in the last few years. I know a ton of people that have fallen in love with the show from watching it on Netflix. Is it really losing popularity in the UK?

 

[Sindatur]

Doctor Who may not be quite the force it was when it returned with Christopher Eccleston and in its David Tennant heyday in the UK, but has a growing audience in the US on cable channel BBC America.

This actually intrigues me quite a bit. I realize that I am coming from the American perspective, but it's crazy to me just how popular Doctor Who has become around here in the last few years. I know a ton of people that have fallen in love with the show from watching it on Netflix. Is it really losing popularity in the UK?

Live eyes have decreased, but, that's across the board. Market share/percentage won of live eyes available, I don't believe have decreased noticably. (Even American Network TV just a few years ago was getting near 20million ratings viewers for their top shows, now, 10m is getting tough to achieve). Some breakout shows on Cable, such as The Walking Dead, I think are taking ratings from other Networks, rather then bringing in live eyes for the most part (Though I'm sure there is a certain percentage of that, that is indeed live eyes that wouldn't be watching anything else)

 

[Venardhi]

I still think their best bet is to make it a winter series. Premier end of October or beginning of November and air 6 episodes, take 2 weeks off, then air the Christmas Special, then 2 weeks off then show the rest through to the end of February.

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

The new incarnation of Doctor Who has now existed for eight years, longer than The Next Generation, so it's a miracle that people are still interested and that the show is still popular, especially when so many promising series are cancelled right in the middle of their first season.

And yeah, it's a pity that we don't get more episodes for the Doctor's 50th anniversary, but as a lifelong fan of the show, I must say that I'm still not completely used to the fact that we got it back.

 

[TJ Sinclair]

The new incarnation of Doctor Who has now existed for eight years, longer than The Next Generation, so it's a miracle that people are still interested and that the show is still popular, especially when so many promising series are cancelled right in the middle of their first season.

It'd be a miracle if it were an American show, sure. But you cannot compare the American paradigm of television programming to how British broadcasters do things.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Can BBC America "chose" not to air Doctor Who if the US ratings start to suck?

 

[CommodoreKong]

As long as they go back to airing all the episodes in one shot instead of split seasons I'm fine with that. I also don't mind them cutting back one episode to go to 12 episodes plus a Christmas episode.

 

[Guy Gardener]

How about you start with 12 full cast episodes, and then add 4 doctor lite episodes per season and one no Doctor at all episode per season?

Don't you want to see an episode where the Daleks win?

One episode a year is a Villans episode.

They just lay into a planet raise it, sack it, strip mine it and then don't give a shit as all the Dalek slaves mysteriously die from the poor working conditions and terminal pollution?

Extermination-Porn.

Bad guys spend sometimes years getting their shit toether for the final countdown, and it's really not fair that the Doctor just stumbles in and wings an undeserved victory.

And then John Hurt does an Easter Special every year set during his inbetween times.

Quantity, not quality is going to dig them out of this hole.

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

It'd be a miracle if it were an American show, sure. But you cannot compare the American paradigm of television programming to how British broadcasters do things.

Well, for one, you just did. And I'm not aware of any other television show, whether it's British or American, that has come back from a 19-year long hiatus and has enjoyed an 8-year long run after that. As far as I know, it's unprecedented.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Star Trek?

 

[TJ Sinclair]

Star Trek?

Not quite the same beast, if we're treating NuWho as a direct continuation of Classic Who, as the BBC is wont to do these days.

 

[Starkers]

I thought that, though it did come back in a different format, technically a new show, it was set in the same universe and did have continuity with TOS and I think it's the closest thing you'll get to Who.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

Can BBC America "chose" not to air Doctor Who if the US ratings start to suck?

Yes. BBC America pays for the programming they air, which is why they broadcast a mixture of BBC and ITV programming, along with American shows like Star Trek: The Next Generation and BSG, and things like Copper and Orphan Black which they produced in-house. It's possible that BBC America's decision makers could decide not to spend their programming budget money on Doctor Who. It's not likely because the people in charge there really do like the program and have invested in it, but it's possible.