In 2009 we only had 3 episodes? 2 of which are generally considered to be among the worst New Who episodes?
How about thse years when we had 14 Doctor Whos and Confidentials plus 13 Torchwoods plus 13 SJAs plus all the assorted bits and pieces that we now seem to get instead of the series as opposed to, as well as it?
Well, Miracle Day was terrible so can't say I'm mourning the loss of that show and it's not really anybody's fault that Liz Sladen died so SJA had to end. Also, half of every Doctor Who Confidential episode comprised of clips of the ep we just watched, set to Coldplay songs. Fact.
It's just possible that messing up the anniversary year may be the straw that breaks the camel back. The big anniversary year for Doctor Who may end with a whimper rather than a bang. There's not only fan dissappointment but it sounds like growing dissappointment from overseas broadcasters and even toy vendors! I'm not sure that I want Moffat to leave Doctor Who, but it would be nice if the BBC splurged and got him some help to boost the production rate! Mr Awe
HA! Can't argue with that. I could understand why the BBC cut confidential(Karen visits a planetarium? Arthur swims with the sharks) but the behind the scenes stuff was intriguing
I believe when Michael Pickwoad took over as production designer from Ed Thomas in A Christmas Carol visually it really began to look much more cinematic and big budget. Not a fan of the RTD era at all. Personally I think the show has only improved since he left, the writing frustrated me endlessly and series 1-4 has little rewatch value.
That was a disaster Bannerman Road could and should have went on instead of Miracles vs. Negros or what was it I'd say even more as there was a massive leap in Series 5 already. Again in Series 7.
What a pile of fucking shite. He worked himself into ill health while Moffat seems to spend most of his time jetting off to America on freebies.
Series 2-4 have aged very badly and contain the worst, laziest writing you'll really find in Doctor Who but I still like a lot of Series 1. RTD kinda ran out of ideas after that.
Even as a defender of Moffat, clearly he has to take some of the blame for this, but I can't seriously believe he's the only one to shoulder the blame as some people seem to think he is. There must be wider issues at play and it strikes me RTD probably had more latitude/money when he was in charge (after the first series certainly) I mean this is the man who shipped a bus to a desert regime with a dubious civil rights record right? And I'm not sure anyone can blame Moffat for us losing the Confidentials, that was clearly a cost cutting exercise, and clearly the BBC is having to cut costs, and as for people bringing up Merlin, yes they made 13 eps a year, but that show was also finite, and despite protestations to the contrary Series 5 did seem to wrap things up awful quickly, so it wouldn't surprise me if they were told it had to end this year, and while they might have originally had a five year arc, I bet they hoped they'd get longer. Where Moffat doesn't so himself any favours is in the hyperbole, when it comes down to it RTD was a much better flim-flam man that Moffat is, but I think as well RTD worked in a more settled, secure environment, and whilst I'll accept that some of the current insecurity around Who should be laid at Moffat's door, I can't imagine he's solely to blame, and irrespective of Sherlock or who his wife is, I'm sure if it was that much of a problem the BBC wouldn't hesitate to get rid of him, albeit in a dignified "it was a mutual decision" kind of way. Strikes me whoever was in charge right now would be struggling. As I say I'm not trying to excuse Moffat from his part in all this, but he isn't the all powerful anti-Christ some seem to think he is.
But there isn';t such a thing as 'the BBC as a whole'. It's always between split into separate departments, and the heads of those departments have always had a tendency to look after the interests of their charge rather than any nominal whole. My guess is that Controller, BBC1, is fuming that he can't simply schedule a 13 episode run of Doctor Who into a regular slot each year, like his predecessors did, just as BBC Worldwide would love a full season to sell. But what can they do about it? Well, they could go to the Board of Management and say 'Doctor Who belongs to the BBC, not BBC Wales. We want 13 episodes a year, and if Wales can't provide that, I'm sure another drama production department could." But Wales would fight back. Worldwide would be told that it would be the commercial tail wagging the licence fee dog. Wales would lobby that taking Doctor Who away from it would undermine the BBC's commitment to regional production. And so on... so unless anyone's sure of winning, they won't start the fight. What worries me is that if the controller accepts that and is starting to assume that Who will only be available intermittently, he'll stop building his schedule around the assumption that it will be there, and eventually there won't be a space for anything but one-offs when it is available, as he'll have found other 'bankers' to fill the gap. Up till now, they've moved Merlin around to fit with Doctor Who... what happens if BBC1 finds two successful series in the Merlin vein for the Saturday early evening family slot, or decide to put the effort into building two such successes?
RTD's run had its ups and downs, I still think pound for pound Moffat Who is as enjoyable, just for different reasons, but even though I liked series 4, it was clear RTD was running out of ideas, the show, the very structure of the seasons, had become stale and predicable, no sleight to RTD, I think whoever was in charge it would have happened. Being fair sometimes I miss the zip RTD Who had, but by the same token Moffat has yet to make me want to throw things at the telly the way Russell did on a semi-regular basis
I'm just glad modern day London only appears sparingly now. I made the mistake of marathoning all Classic and New Who a few years back and now the RTD era is a sickly blur of modern day London invasions and reset buttons to me.
I quite miss wanting to lash the remote at the telly, I did actually do it when 10 blew up all the Daleks in the series 4 finale and again when Gallifrey went back into the Time Lock. God it pissed me off at times.