Original Series Doctors Protest Lack Of 50th Involvement

[Brendan Moody]

The BBC doesn't stick all its money in one general fund and let people make withdrawals as the urge strikes them; it has to be apportioned and justified very carefully, especially in the current environment. The only way BBC One will have spent money on the found episodes is if it's broadcasting something related to them (which I doubt), and even then it won't have been at the expense of the anniversary special, which is a much bigger deal from an institutional perspective.

The Moffat quote is interesting. If he can deliver on that, it'll be a great special. But then RTD talked about doing a story that would Change The Character Forever, and it turned out to be "The Doctor's Daughter."

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

Well, it DID! It gave him a DAUGHTER.

Oh, wait...

 

[DalekJim]

It did change The Doctor forever. It made loads of fans view him as a cock for demanding a society build their entire values around his "I never would kill anybody!" philosophy.

Even though he has killed a bunch of times in the past.

 

[Green Lantern]

If so, who is Olivia Coleman? Or is that suppose to be Olivia Colman (who doesn't really have much of a connection to Doctor Who)?

To be honest she's probably got as much on screen Who time as McGann (runs and hides!)

 

[Noddy]

I have an unpleasant feeling the anniversary special is gonna turn out to be kind of a bummer....

 

[DalekJim]

It'll probably be alright, though my expectations aren't too high from what I know.

 

[Green Lantern]

I'll probably end up enjoying the Christmas special more than the actual anniversary special. Always happens, I always prefer something else to something that I've been constantly thinking about. For example, I was really looking forward to Nightmare in Silver and only moderately looking forward to Cold War, and I ended up loving Cold War while only being a tiny bit impressed by Nightmare in Silver.

Before that I was dead looking forward to Asylum of the Daleks and near hated it, then I was only looking forward to Angels Take Manhattan because the bastard Ponds were leaving, and I ended up loving Angels in its own right. I wasn't looking forward particularly that much for Ghost Rider 2 but I ended up loving it, then I was a bit excited about Avengers and ended up almost fucking hating it.

 

[Leonardo T. Dragon]

I have an unpleasant feeling the anniversary special is gonna turn out to be kind of a bummer....

Agreed. Nothing could live up to the hype and, let's be honest, we're never going to get anything like either the Three Doctors or Five Doctors ever again.

Plus, Moffat's run has been dodgy at best.

 

[Green Lantern]

Maybe the 60th will be better.......

 

[Sindatur]

I have an unpleasant feeling the anniversary special is gonna turn out to be kind of a bummer....

Agreed. Nothing could live up to the hype and, let's be honest, we're never going to get anything like either the Three Doctors or Five Doctors ever again.

Plus, Moffat's run has been dodgy at best.

I'm American

I don't generally watch live TV (sometimes it's on in the background, but, I'm not focused on it. Generally I watch DVDs [including current shows I watch, I burn from On Demand to DVD and watch at my leisure])

Most of what I've seen online of hype, is the Forum posters (like us and other boards), scrounging for every morsel of information and complaining about the lack of advertizing/hype with trailers and demanding details Moffat won't give up (And of course, The Nerd Media placating us Forum Posters with rumors or complaining about the lack of hype)

So, I only have anecdotal information, all the Doctor Who General Audience folks at work (About 5) and SciFi in General or BBCA in General fans (another 2 or 3) come to me for info, and they're not bringing me any hype to confirm

So, for us US folks, where is this hype that has been put forth by The Show, from my limited exposure, it seems to be a lack of hype by The Show, causing the "We" to create our own hype, that The "Not We" are oblivious to?

 

[StCoop]

So, for us US folks, where is this hype that has been put forth by The Show, from my limited exposure, it seems to be a lack of hype by The Show, causing the "We" to create our own hype, that The "Not We" are oblivious to?

Well last year the BBC claimed that the 50th Anniversary celebrations would be on a par with their Olympics Coverage, which has actually translated into a 75 minute special in a format that the BBC have abandoned before it's even transmitted, a docudrama that Mark Gatiss had been trying to get made for a decade and a couple of cheap talking heads shows.

 

[Professor Zoom]

So, for us US folks, where is this hype that has been put forth by The Show, from my limited exposure, it seems to be a lack of hype by The Show, causing the "We" to create our own hype, that The "Not We" are oblivious to?

Well last year the BBC claimed that the 50th Anniversary celebrations would be on a par with their Olympics Coverage, which has actually translated into a 75 minute special in a format that the BBC have abandoned before it's even transmitted, a docudrama that Mark Gatiss had been trying to get made for a decade and a couple of cheap talking heads shows.

But let's be honest. Does a TV show REALLY deserve to have celebrations on par with an event like the Olympics? Take off the fanboy glasses for a second. The Olympics, an event were thousands of athletes from around the world, with thousands of fans, and millions at home, competing for two weeks, versus a TV that's been around for 50 years, 26 seasons in a row, off for almost two decades and then has been pretty popular....

Come on... don't you think the BBC might have been exaggerating just a little? That maybe it's not a fair thing to hold them to that?

I love Doctor Who.... but really, that level of celebrations for a TV show? Silly.

 

[StCoop]

Come on... don't you think the BBC might have been exaggerating just a little? That maybe it's not a fair thing to hold them to that?

I was just answering the question that was asked about examples of hype from the BBC.

That said... Nobody held a gun to their heads and forced them to make those levels of claims. Just like nobody made Moffat say that there would be no reduction in episodes right before splitting one series over two years.

 

[Professor Zoom]

Come on... don't you think the BBC might have been exaggerating just a little? That maybe it's not a fair thing to hold them to that?

I was just answering the question that was asked about examples of hype from the BBC.

That said... Nobody held a gun to their heads and forced them to make those levels of claims.

Nobody held a gun to your head to take it this seriously. It's PR. Half of it is BS. PT Barnum was right...

 

[Sindatur]

Come on... don't you think the BBC might have been exaggerating just a little? That maybe it's not a fair thing to hold them to that?

I was just answering the question that was asked about examples of hype from the BBC.

That said... Nobody held a gun to their heads and forced them to make those levels of claims. Just like nobody made Moffat say that there would be no reduction in episodes right before splitting one series over two years.

Except my question was directed to a poster who's location is the US and my question specifically stated "US Folks". So, what the BBC said months ago doesn't really count as US hype, and really "All this hype" would imply non-stop thundering announcements, IMHO.

 

[Mr Awe]

I don't mind the level of "hype". I'm not into hype anyway. Teaser's don't do much for me. After all, they'll make a poor episode look great anyway. So, that aspect doesn't bug me much. It's actually been a nice break to not have a continual stream of hype.

What bugs me a bit more is the lack of classic Who in the anniversary special. Of course, I could be surprised on that so I'll wait and see. But, visual cameos like scarfs and what not won't be sufficient. And, it doesn't have to be all the classic Doctors or companions, just one would be great. But, a celebration of 8 years really doesn't cut the mustard, nor the excuse that Moffat is just looking forward. You can do both.

Also, if they didn't want any classic characters in the anniversary special, they could've gotten one or two in a regular season story. That way they don't increase the required budget. Basically do what the classic series did with The Two Doctors. They brought Troughton and Hines back for a regular, non-anniversary story.

I'm really looking forward to An Adventure in Time and Space! That was great of the BBC to make, so a big thanks to them for that!

The classic Who finds are a great way to celebrate the anniversary, but I don't give BBC credit for that.

Mr Awe

 

[RevdKathy]

I see watch (sat/cable UK channel) have a Doctor Who weekend, with some classic stories and a few overview programmes (on the companions, etc). That's the sort of thing I expected the BBC to do.

 

[StCoop]

I see watch (sat/cable UK channel) have a Doctor Who weekend, with some classic stories and a few overview programmes (on the companions, etc). That's the sort of thing I expected the BBC to do.

They're showing what BBC America's been showing all year and which the actual BBC has no interest in showing because the series didn't exist before 2005.

 

[Captaindemotion]

I see watch (sat/cable UK channel) have a Doctor Who weekend, with some classic stories and a few overview programmes (on the companions, etc). That's the sort of thing I expected the BBC to do.

Cool - when is that?

 

[sttngfan1701d]

What bugs me a bit more is the lack of classic Who in the anniversary special. Of course, I could be surprised on that so I'll wait and see. But, visual cameos like scarfs and what not won't be sufficient. And, it doesn't have to be all the classic Doctors or companions, just one would be great. But, a celebration of 8 years really doesn't cut the mustard, nor the excuse that Moffat is just looking forward. You can do both.

Also, if they didn't want any classic characters in the anniversary special, they could've gotten one or two in a regular season story. That way they don't increase the required budget. Basically do what the classic series did with The Two Doctors. They brought Troughton and Hines back for a regular, non-anniversary story.

I'm really looking forward to An Adventure in Time and Space! That was great of the BBC to make, so a big thanks to them for that!

The classic Who finds are a great way to celebrate the anniversary, but I don't give BBC credit for that.

Mr Awe

I agree with you, and I don't even like the Classic series. I find it boring, cheesy, talky and it has silly music. I guess it's an acquired taste like TOS. But how many shows or franchises for that matter get to 50 years old? The BBC should have been pulling out ALL the stops to celebrate the history of the show.

There is a possibility that there will be a load of surprises on hand, with pickup shots filmed after everything else was done and secret cameos or Youtube minisodes, but I have to ask....why even do that? What's the point, really? Is a "surprise!" that important to Moffat and co. that they would keep classic actor cameos under wraps? They should be using them to promote the hell out of this, put them on the poster, etc.

It's all been very strange. I suppose a PR blitz in the last month or so might change my mind, but I'm seriously scratching my head at some of their decisions regarding this special.