Doctor Who 3.0 News

[Paul Weaver]

Thing is the BBC are being very clear about things they're not funding going forward and which things they're axing. Dr Who is not one of them.

So Far. There are far more announcements to come. It's quite plausible the new charter will not include any entertainment at all. Hell it's possible the BBC won't exist, as given the increase in people choosing to opt out of paying the tv license there simply won't be any money to pay for it.

On the other hand a new charter from 2028 onwards may stabilise the funding and then great.

BBC ‘risks entering inescapable doom spiral’ as further cuts hit TV and radio

Warning from union comes as corporation cuts local specialist correspondent roles as part of plan to save £500m

www.theguardian.com

‘A completely unique opportunity’: the secretive process that will decide the BBC’s future

The long read: Every decade, the BBC’s continued existence must be secured through an elaborate multi-year negotiation with the government. But what does charter renewal actually involve – and will it secure the BBC’s long-term future?

www.theguardian.com

 

[The Gatekeeper]

This gets thrown around a lot, but the situation is so, so different to what it was in 1989. I never want to patronise and you're a clever fella, but I'm not sure how deep your Who knowledge is? If you really want me to break down why it's different I could go 500-1000 words if you like? :-)

The tender document clearly states they are looking at a 2028/29 launch.

I'm basically cynical the tender is actually going to go through and result in anything. Basically, my feelings are similar to those expressed by Mark Gatiss which were posted earlier in this thread:

Mark Gatiss doesn't think the tender will happen and think the show needs a substantial break.

Mark Gatiss predicts Doctor Who's tender "quietly won't happen": 'It's time for a break'

"All good things come to an end."

www.radiotimes.com

Don't worry, should I and Gatiss end up being wrong and the show does in fact come back in two to three years, you can guarantee I'll be in this thread retconning my opinion to say I knew all along this was but a brief hiccup and not the start of a new Wilderness Era.

 

[Richard S. Ta]

I'm basically cynical the tender is actually going to go through

To allay fears, and you can look this up, literally 100% of the shows the BBC have put up for tender have gone through.

You can’t really argue with a 100% success rate. Gatiss doesn’t know shit, basically.

It is, pound for pound, the top international selling show for the BBC. It is their most highly merchandised and valuable property and we already know that at the *very* least, BBC Studios want to do it with various other interested parties having spoken up.

The future of Star Trek… who the Hell knows? But I think based on past-precedent in the BBC tender process, it’s guaranteed to go through. It makes too much money for them (at a time when money is what they are short of) for it not to.

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

I'm not exactly pessimistic about DW's future, cause I know the Beeb want it to keep going. I am pissed because there is a lack of understanding of what makes the show going and that lack of understanding has been existant for a long time (since Moffat's time, in fact). And the way they botched things with Disney and RTD2 is a good indicator of how lackadaisical they are with the property, which is partly why they entertain this tender process.

The other sad reality is that the BBC is undergoing an existential crisis, obviously, so the show as part of it would always be influenced by the said situation. It makes me mad still though.

But not cynical. I'm far more cynical about Trek, if I were honest.

 

[Starkers]

To allay fears, and you can look this up, literally 100% of the shows the BBC have put up for tender have gone through.

You can’t really argue with a 100% success rate. Gatiss doesn’t know shit, basically.

It is, pound for pound, the top international selling show for the BBC. It is their most highly merchandised and valuable property and we already know that at the *very* least, BBC Studios want to do it with various other interested parties having spoken up.

The future of Star Trek… who the Hell knows? But I think based on past-precedent in the BBC tender process, it’s guaranteed to go through. It makes too much money for them (at a time when money is what they are short of) for it not to.

Who, Strictly, Top Gear...these are some of the Beeb's biggest money-spinners, and whilst TG went into hiatus 3 yeara go after Freddie Flintoff's accident, just last month the BBC announced it would be returning.

I wouldn't go as far as to say Gatiss knows shit, he's heavily involved in production across multiple channels in recent years, but I do think he's wrong about this.

 

[Richard S. Ta]

I wouldn't go as far as to say Gatiss knows shit

Yeah, that's a bit far. Agreed.

He's just spitballing in an interview though. He has no more knowledge about what's going on than anyone else. Still, you get all those Youtube headlines like "Gatiss says the show should die!" when that's not what he said at all.

Top Gear and Strictly do well, but they don't spin off into merch or licensing in the same way that Who does. Basically, in 1989 Doctor Who was an embarrassment that the BBC wanted to bury*. In 2026, the Director General is right behind it. It's a jewel in the BBC's crown.

I think we will see a series in 2028/29, more likely the latter, because that's what the tender stipulates. 100% of shows put out to tender have been made and 74% of those shows have gone to BBC studios. BBC studios have outright stated they will be pitching for Who, so even in the unlikely event that nobody else does, there's someone waiting to take the reins.

* Which in itself is a muddy matter. In the years since, we've found there were numerous approaches made to continue the show before the TVM. In fact Peter Cregeen, head of BBC series in 1989 wanted Season 27 to happen, with an increased budget and episode count, but they couldn't get the cash together.

 

[Starkers]

^ thing is, with Strictly the BBC licence the format. There's something like 60 versions of Strictly out there and in each instance they're paying the BBC in order the use the format so I imagine it makes a huge amount of money. Plus they do a tour every year into the bargain.

Imagine if 60 countries all licenced and started making their own version of Who

 

[danellis]

I got to say, seeing the King emerge from the TARDIS is very surreal feeling, but I love it!

I'd forgotten about that...

Is there any link between Doctor Who and Glasgow? Would've made sense if it was Cardiff..

dJE

 

[Marc]

Imagine if 60 countries all licenced and started making their own version of Who

People have been feed to drashigs for lesser thoughts

 

[Starkers]

People have been feed to drashigs for lesser thoughts

Thing is, it's the law of averages that one of those shows would be great.

"I mean I love the British original, but after that Hungarian Who is my favourite."

 

[Richard S. Ta]

^ thing is, with Strictly the BBC licence the format. There's something like 60 versions of Strictly out there and in each instance they're paying the BBC in order the use the format so I imagine it makes a huge amount of money. Plus they do a tour every year into the bargain.

Imagine if 60 countries all licenced and started making their own version of Who

Aye, I forgot they license the format out.

Do they do that with Top Gear?

Regardless, Who is a money-spinner. It’s not in their interests to have it not in production.

I think for fans of a certain age, of which I am one, 1989 has kind of left a scar on the collective fandom. No matter how well the show has done over the past 20(!) years, there’s always some part of our minds that’s just waiting for the lights to go out and party over.

The BBC in 1989 had no love for the show, or for sci-fi in general. It was all regarded as being a bit low-brow and maybe more importantly, something that just wasn’t in the wheelhouse of the Beeb.

Things are very different now. I’m really excited to see where it goes and who gets it. And someone will get it.

Repeat after me: 100% success rate in regards to the BBC tender process. 100%. ;-)

 

[Marc]

Do they do that with Top Gear?

Well there was an Australian version of Top Gear.

Lets say it was an incentive not to the licence the brand.

Thing is, it's the law of averages that one of those shows would be great.

"I mean I love the British original, but after that Hungarian Who is my favourite."

$deity help us.

would make arguments over how big the original Enterprise was look like a civilized debate!!

 

[The Gatekeeper]

To allay fears, and you can look this up, literally 100% of the shows the BBC have put up for tender have gone through.

You can’t really argue with a 100% success rate. Gatiss doesn’t know shit, basically.

It is, pound for pound, the top international selling show for the BBC. It is their most highly merchandised and valuable property and we already know that at the *very* least, BBC Studios want to do it with various other interested parties having spoken up.

The future of Star Trek… who the Hell knows? But I think based on past-precedent in the BBC tender process, it’s guaranteed to go through. It makes too much money for them (at a time when money is what they are short of) for it not to.

All good points. I guess when you get down to it, I'm just a "glass is half empty" kind of guy. Hard to be disappointed when you have low expectations to begin with.

 

[Soong-type Android]

Personally speaking... It makes me mad and sad that just as the show got good/exciting again, just as I finally got back to it after five long years of void and awfulness, that it just stopped. And during probably the most turbulent, radical politically period of our lives, also! Was it flawless? No, but what era of the show ever is?

Is this how fans felt after 1989? Finally a good version of the program (season 25-26) after a long stretch where it felt unsatisfactory?

Fuckin' Disney, and Fuckin' Beeb!

Fuckin' low viewing figures!

 

[jaime]

Think of all the grass that was touched though, and how grateful all those people for whom it wasn’t made must have been for having saved time watching something that was meant for someone else. It would have been terribly embarrassing to sit and watch something that wasn’t meant for you after all.
Like picking up the wrong hat in a cloakroom or something.
Better to save the embarrassment, and go and fondle the greenery instead.
What would have happened if they had liked it?
I mean goodness me, they’d have had to make more of it, maybe even cater to a wider clientele and that would be terrible.

And of course that one fellow was going to bring all their friends in to watch it to make up the numbers. We would have worn the picture thin if people who weren’t meant to watch it all sat down and actually watched it.
Can’t have people seeing anything they like.

Of course… not many did see anything they liked, by the end.

 

[bdub76]

Aye, I forgot they license the format out.

Do they do that with Top Gear?

Regardless, Who is a money-spinner. It’s not in their interests to have it not in production.

I think for fans of a certain age, of which I am one, 1989 has kind of left a scar on the collective fandom. No matter how well the show has done over the past 20(!) years, there’s always some part of our minds that’s just waiting for the lights to go out and party over.

The BBC in 1989 had no love for the show, or for sci-fi in general. It was all regarded as being a bit low-brow and maybe more importantly, something that just wasn’t in the wheelhouse of the Beeb.

Things are very different now. I’m really excited to see where it goes and who gets it. And someone will get it.

Repeat after me: 100% success rate in regards to the BBC tender process. 100%. ;-)

I actually enjoyed McCoy's last two seasons.

As for this tender, it does look like JMS is now in the UK based on his discussion on YouTube. However, I'm still in the camp for having Dean Devlin make the show. The Librarians is so close to Doctor Who that, I think, he'll get it more.

The BBC is having some money challenges, so I'm not sure how that's going to play into the future production.

Unlike how the classic series ended, I don't think the new series of Doctor Who went out as well. Cartmel wrote a great ending for the classic. We got Rose, which was a horrible send off.

 

[camdudetenger2018]

The question will then be whether they actually progress. BBC has just made a pile more redundancies, and there's rumours about closing entire channels

Some BBC channels and radio stations 'may well' have to close, director general says

The BBC's financial situation "may well mean" some channels and stations close, Matt Brittin says.

www.bbc.co.uk

BBC Cuts: Around 150 Tech Staff Expected To Take Voluntary Redundancy

Around 151 employees are set to exit BBC Media Tech, the unit that helps power online services including iPlayer and BBC Sounds.

deadline.com

BBC to axe sports bulletins on its TV news channel

Cuts are part of plan to save £500m and lose as many as 2,000 staff by 2028

www.theguardian.com

Whether there would be money left for doctor who, or indeed if the BBC will stille xist in 2028/29, is anyone's guess. I'll believe it when I see it on air.

i wonder if its because of lawsuit that the wwe hall of famer donnie j trump started a while back where he wants to take on bbc in court

and bbc had to cut most of bbc in half in order to pay for there high profiled lawyers for the on going battle in court against the wwe hall of famer donnie j trump

 

[Richard S. Ta]

All good points. I guess when you get down to it, I'm just a "glass is half empty" kind of guy. Hard to be disappointed when you have low expectations to begin with.

100% success rate. ;-)

Think of all the grass that was touched though, and how grateful all those people for whom it wasn’t made must have been for having saved time watching something that was meant for someone else.

'Touch grass' was in specific reference to online racists, sexists and homophobes crying about 'woke'.

If you took that personally, it says something about you.

The rest of your rambling invective doesn't deserve a response.

Fuckin' low viewing figures!

Which is a wider TV problem. Not a Doctor Who problem. The chart position was still within the top 20 in the UK, so there's no need to be silly.

I actually enjoyed McCoy's last two seasons.

They were my first! Aged 9-10 years old. 2 fantastic seasons.

 

[Soong-type Android]

Which is a wider TV problem. Not a Doctor Who problem. The chart position was still within the top 20 in the UK, so there's no need to be silly.

And yet it was cancelled and will likely be off the air for the next few years. Even Ncuti Gatwa joked about its bad ratings in an SNL monologue.

 

[jaime]

100% success rate. ;-)



'Touch grass' was in specific reference to online racists, sexists and homophobes crying about 'woke'.

If you took that personally, it says something about you.

The rest of your rambling invective doesn't deserve a response.



Which is a wider TV problem. Not a Doctor Who problem. The chart position was still within the top 20 in the UK, so there's no need to be silly.



They were my first! Aged 9-10 years old. 2 fantastic seasons.

Still no sense of humour I see.

I didn’t take the touch grass comments personally, not least as I still watched the show. I also thought Story and The Engine was really good.
But I am also not so blind as to recognise they shot themselves in the foot repeatedly in the press, and that whilst silly ‘woke’ criticism was precisely that — silly — from *some* people, it wasn’t entirely devoid of truth when you look at what was actually done and shown on screen.

And it went so far in that direction, it managed to loop around and actually read as racist and sexist in itself by the end.