BBC America edit of Planet of the Dead ( and Waters of Mars?)

[FallOfFingolfin]

Over the last month and a half or so I've been trudging through NuWho in order, via a combination of DVDs from the local library, Netflix DVDs, Netflix streaming and DVR recordings from BBC America.

Tonight I sat down to watch Planet of the Dead, which recorded sometime last week. I immediately noticed that the special (which I had anticipated to have a running time of 60 minutes) was in a 60 minute timeslot, WITH commercials. Some warning flags went off at this, and while I thought that the special seemed a little rushed, I couldn't place a finger on what may have been missing. After reading up on the TARDIS wiki, it seems like the entire subplot of Carmen's voices in her head and "prophecy" for the Doctor at the end(you know, the only relevant plot point to the main story) is completely edited out, and so is the final conversation between Catherine and the Doctor. She gets onto the bus and just flies away, the crowd cheers, end of story. There are probably many other sequences missing from this special.

I'm pretty upset about this, especially since I can say with some certainty that I will have the same problems with Waters of Mars, which I plan to watch tomorrow. I guess I'll try to stream via Netflix, even though that's inconvenient for me.

Does anyone know if BBCA aired these crappy edits when the specials were initially broadcast in the States?

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

BBCA always runs the full version the first time.

With Eleventh Hour, they did the unedited version (1 hr 15 min total), then a couple hours later when they re-ran it, it was edited (1 hour total).

I noticed bits here & there missing before I realized what was going on. Parts of the Doctor's speech to the Atraxi were cut out.

 

[CmdrAJD]

BBC America's cuts can be brutal. I thought their version of The Runaway Bride was incoherent due to all the snipping they did to fit it into an hour.

I think they still show the full versions on On Demand (or whatever your cable company's equivalent might be). They refer to it as the BBC America On Demand Director's Cut. Of course, they only have a limited number of episodes on the service at any one time.

 

[Servo]

Not necessarily a bad thing. You could edit a good 15-20 minutes out of POTD, and probably be better off for it.

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

Not necessarily a bad thing. You could edit a good 15-20 minutes out of POTD, and probably be better off for it.

I'd rather see the show that the producers intended to make, rather than a TV executive chopped-off version of it.

 

[Cutter John]

I know its wrong, seeing as how they're the official distributor in the US and all. But I have a hard time supporting BBCA because of this crap. I get my episodes via an alternative source.

 

[FallOfFingolfin]

Thanks for the info, all.

I have decided to get Waters of Mars from Netflix rather than watching the chopped version I have on my DVR. Looks like I'll just have to bear with the edited "Eleventh Hour," will probably glance through the shooting script to make sure I don't miss anything too big there.

I hope The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang isn't too heavily edited. I got it in a two-hour slot this past week

 

[Hermiod]

A more general question - why do American networks feel the need to stick rigidly to hourly timeslots? Why can't a show be 80 minutes long with ads and the next show start at 20 past the hour?

 

[Kitty Worrier]

IIRC, BBA used to edit less. I recall some comedies running 40 minutes, so their scheudle did not always start on the hour or half hour.

At least Pandorica Opens ran 65 minutes and Big Bang ran with limited commercials the first time. Too bad they don't do this for the repeats and encores.

 

[DAK]

I complained to them once about their hatchet jobs on Doctor Who episodes. The 11th Hour was on and it was so messed up I turned it off in disgust. Here's the canned email reply I received.

Thank you for taking the time to contact us. Unfortunately, as you may
or may not know, due to differences between the British and American
television industries as well as scheduling issues, BBC America is
frequently faced with the onerous task of re-editing and formatting
programs before they air, in order to fit American programming clocks.
However, please rest assured that every effort is taken to preserve as
much of the original UK show as possible, given these inescapable
restrictions.

Additionally, please know that BBC America takes the opinions of viewers
such as yourself very seriously and that we will forward your remarks on
to the appropriate department(s).

We thank you again for your comments.

Regards,
Viewer Relations
BBC America

 

[Kolrad]

A more general question - why do American networks feel the need to stick rigidly to hourly timeslots? Why can't a show be 80 minutes long with ads and the next show start at 20 past the hour?

I think they are afraid that it would cost them viewers for the second show if it's not guaranteed to come on at an consistent, easily remembered time. Viewers do tend to complain when shows are shifted around or postponed by things like sporting events.

Also, I'm not sure, but I think ratings are measured every half hour, so it would make the data less useful (assuming it's useful in the first place) for shows not to start on the half hours.

This makes me really glad I got the first airings of the finale on tape; I have friends and family who love the show but don't get BBCA, and it would really stink to have to see a chopped up rerun.

 

[Hermiod]

^The irony is that Doctor Who airs on Saturdays here where there's no kind of hourly schedule.

 

[ParticleMan]

The only thing that really bugged me about BBCA's edit of The Eleventh Hour is that all the stuff about "Silence will fall" is cut out...that's kind of important...editing down the food tasting sequence and the Doctor changing clothes in the locker room doesn't bother me as bad.

The only TV edits that REALLY bug me are the ones in Journey's End. You lose nearly all of what happens when the Doctor takes Donna back home after erasing her memories...including the speech Wilf gives about looking up at the stars and remembering the Doctor for her...and that moment of silent, agonized reflection the Doctor has at the very end...cutting that just guts the emotional impact for me...

 

[Sci]

A more general question - why do American networks feel the need to stick rigidly to hourly timeslots?

Because it's fucking irritating when they don't and everyone agrees on that. Americans want their shows to start on the half-hour or the hour, period, because that's how most American schedules are organized in everything.

 

[FallOfFingolfin]

The only TV edits that REALLY bug me are the ones in Journey's End. You lose nearly all of what happens when the Doctor takes Donna back home after erasing her memories...including the speech Wilf gives about looking up at the stars and remembering the Doctor for her...and that moment of silent, agonized reflection the Doctor has at the very end...cutting that just guts the emotional impact for me...

Ugh, no way. I just watched the BBCA version a couple of days ago and had no idea it was edited. I'm pretty pissed now.

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

Because it's fucking irritating when they don't and everyone agrees on that. Americans want their shows to start on the half-hour or the hour, period, because that's how most American schedules are organized in everything.

I'm sure Americans would be perfectly able to watch television even if it didn't fit this artificially rigid organization.

 

[ParticleMan]

Because it's fucking irritating when they don't and everyone agrees on that. Americans want their shows to start on the half-hour or the hour, period, because that's how most American schedules are organized in everything.

I'm sure Americans would be perfectly able to watch television even if it didn't fit this artificially rigid organization.

Especially now that more and more Americans are using DVRs and On Demand viewing rather than watching shows during the original air time...

 

[Kibbin]

Not necessarily a bad thing. You could edit a good 15-20 minutes out of POTD, and probably be better off for it.

QFT, if it gets rid of the foreshadowing at the end that manages to beat you over the head with a big squeeky mallet I'm all for it.

A more general question - why do American networks feel the need to stick rigidly to hourly timeslots? Why can't a show be 80 minutes long with ads and the next show start at 20 past the hour?

Actually it works mostly over here in England too and has been proven to loose vieweing figures. People channel surf at the end of shows and look for news shows to watch, if a new show isn't starting for another five-ten minutes they will often keep on flicking.

 

[Sparky]

A more general question - why do American networks feel the need to stick rigidly to hourly timeslots?

Because it's fucking irritating when they don't and everyone agrees on that. Americans want their shows to start on the half-hour or the hour, period, because that's how most American schedules are organized in everything.

Get a PVR or GTFO.

Seriously though. Why can't they show the full version of the episodes with commercials and then have an edited version of Dr Who Confidential to fill in the rest of the slot until the next half or top of the hour? I don't live in the US but is BBCA a specialty digital channel or is it a basic channel that is widely available?

In Canada Dr Who is shown on the Space Channel. It is delayed by 3 weeks and has commercials of course. The worst part is that Space is only broadcast in SD. I don't know if the episodes are edited though because I have never watched an episode on that channel. I really think these stations are shooting themselves in the foot with the way they treat these shows. Why would I wait 3 weeks to watch a butchered, commercial ridden SD broadcast. When I can be watching the show in 720p, unedited and uninterrupted only a few hours after it has aired in the UK.

If the episodes were aired in HD, unedited and in sync with the BBC broadcasts I could tolerate the commercials. As it stands now though I cannot fathom why anyone would tolerate watching such an inferior product.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

BBCA would be a specialty channel I suppose. It's only available from Comcast in the upper level packages.

Wish those a-holes would finally get the HD version.