Moffat confirms at least 14 episodes of S7 (includes Xmas special)

[Sindatur]

Airing it 9 o'clock would be silly imo, but Merlin did v well in the 8pm time slot. Personally I'd like to see it on around 7pm, but frankly I don't mind much, I'm going to watch it no matter what

Actually I don't see the problem. Certainly doesn't hurt it over here. The only reason why Doctor Who would not work at 9 PM is that in the UK the post-9 PM timeslots are generally reserved for more adult fare, whether that be Torchwood or stuff like Rome that contain content you'd never be allowed to show on mainstream US networks at any hour. The audience would follow Doctor Who to such an hour. But realistically 7 or 8 is the more realistic time slot, and as noted Merlin does fine at 8, and that's a show that (unlike Doctor Who) occasionally does episodes that are specifically geared for kids (thinking Season 3's infamous goblin episode).

Alex

Eh...Here on the West Coast, we get the first airing at 6pm, and a repeat at 9pm, because we see it at the same time as East Coast (Their 9pm is our 6pm)

 

[CaptainMatt]

Well we pretty much knew this right? I mean every series so far has had 14 episodes, the 13 regular ones plus the Xmas special. So what's so new about this?

 

[The Wormhole]

So what's so new about this?

That the Christmas special will be in the middle of the season as opposed to the start of it.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

I'd also say preservation of the status quo is news considering people were concerned about this.

 

[CaptainMatt]

Fair enough.

 

[23skidoo]

So what's so new about this?

That the Christmas special will be in the middle of the season as opposed to the start of it.

Which is significant because in the past the specials have always been considered standalones (except for superficial connections to the season preceding) - I don't consider The End of Time to be a Christmas special. This time it sounds like Moffat will be treating the special truly as the 14th episode of the season this time around, which could be interesting.

Something was announced today though that casts doubt on whether Doctor Who is changing studios soon after all. According to the Doctor Who News Page the first Official DW Convention is going to be conducting tours of the TARDIS set at Upper Boat in late March. But Moffat has announced that filming for Series 7 begins in only a few weeks, mid-February. Based on what we'd been hearing, the assumption was the show was going to move to the new studios in Cardiff for Series 7. Unless a duplicate TARDIS set is being built in Cardiff (or the TARDIS is going to change desktop theme again), or they're planning to spend the first part of the season production away from local studios, that seems to suggest relocation isn't happening right away. So if they end up in some form of production hiatus due to changing studios mid-season that could also influence the scheduling of the episode broadcasts later.

Alex