Series 1/31/Fnarg/Fred debate settled?

[23skidoo]

Perhaps someone in the UK or a subscriber can confirm this (we won't see the issue on newsstands here in Canada for weeks yet), but apparently Steven Moffat announced in the newest Doctor Who Magazine (#418) that the new season will be called Season 31. I got this off the Wikia site for Doctor Who, so if someone who has the issue could confirm, that would be great!

This is after DWM previously reported that the BBC was planning to start the numbering over again with Series 1, and as recently as last month Moffat wrote in his DWM column that he favored "Series Fnarg".

Personally, I'm quite happy to see the long history of the series being honored. The whole idea of "Series 1" back in 2005 was to not scare away new viewers, but I think 5 years later people get the picture, and all that "is it part of the canon?" stuff should have been laid to rest the moment Sarah Jane met John Smith as well. Hopefully the BBC might do a bit of merchandising "retcon" and when Series 1-4 inevitably end up on Blu-Ray (upgrading The Next Doctor showed it is feasible) maybe they'll be rebranded Series 27-30.

Alex

 

[knine]

I'm still going to call it Fred.

 

[Admiral_Young]

I'm still and have been calling it series five. Nothing has convinced me not to yet, even Moffat himself.

 

[wamdue]

I will got for S5 as well, but if you think offical word from the BBC will end fan debate, well you dont know Doctor Who fans.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Season 31 it is!

 

[davejames]

I think it was said somewhere the "Series 1" thing was only for internal purposes (because of the new production team), and as far as the public was concerned, it was still to be called "Series 5".

Just curious, but back during the classic series, did people really refer to a particular series as "Series 23, etc"? I can't imagine too many people (other than the super diehard fans) really paid that close attention. lol

 

[Captain Pike]

Good. It's about time we stopped this renumbering the season's business. RTD's era was season 27 - 30. This is season 31.

Makes about a billion times more sense that way..

 

[Sci]

I've never thought that it's reasonable to say that a sixteen-year gap was just a gap between seasons. If you're off the air for sixteen years and then you're making new episodes, you're making a new show, and should number it as such.

So there are two Doctor Whos. Big deal. There have been three Twilight Zones, two Outer Limitses, two Get Smarts, but no one felt the need to try to claim they were all the same series and the later productions were direct continuations of the older ones.

 

[Mark_Nguyen]

Series 31 works for me. I would've preferred series five, of course.

And he numerologists can say this is the first series with the third new Doctor since the show came back. Series 3-1. Get it? HAW!

Mark

 

[Candlelight]

Series 5 for me.

 

[Kelso]

I'll still think of it as season/series 5, but calling it series 1 does make sense if they're trying to snag new international distributors.

I do like the idea of calling it 11.1 in fandom circles, though. Retroactively applying that numbering system to the old shows would make it much easier for me to remember which season belong to which Doctor (rather than thinking of the Pertwee era as series 7-12 or whatever).

 

[The]

There have been three Twilight Zones, two Outer Limitses, two Get Smarts, but no one felt the need to try to claim they were all the same series and the later productions were direct continuations of the older ones.

And yet, Doctor Who is a special case. While I agree that a sixteen-year gap is worthy of not continuing the original numbering, the fact remains that the show is a literal continuation of the original. So, in a sense, you are right. But, not really.


As for what the season is called, I could care less. I do find it funny, however, that certain fans are adamant about what they will call it. If Moffat says it's Season 31, then it's Season 31. There's really no more room for debate if that's the official word. It would be like all the Classic fans that wanted to dispute RTD when he called 2005 season one. It makes just as little sense from both sides of the aisle...

 

[Tom]

Well I prefer Season 46 even counting the 15 non-airing years. It was Doctor Who in spirit in those years. LOL

 

[Sci]

There have been three Twilight Zones, two Outer Limitses, two Get Smarts, but no one felt the need to try to claim they were all the same series and the later productions were direct continuations of the older ones.

And yet, Doctor Who is a special case. While I agree that a sixteen-year gap is worthy of not continuing the original numbering, the fact remains that the show is a literal continuation of the original.

So were the ones I listed. Hell, The Outer Limits even used the same opening monologue, and the 2003 Twilight Zone did sequel episodes to TOS episodes.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

Perhaps someone in the UK or a subscriber can confirm this (we won't see the issue on newsstands here in Canada for weeks yet), but apparently Steven Moffat announced in the newest Doctor Who Magazine (#418) that the new season will be called Season 31. I got this off the Wikia site for Doctor Who, so if someone who has the issue could confirm, that would be great!

I just got #417 today, and Moffat says there that, in his mind, it's season 31. For marketing purposes, it's season 1. And "season 5," in Moffat's eyes, is "a lie."

Hold on, let me get exact quotes.

I fess us to Doctor Who Magazine, the whole "Series One" things came about when I had to give a speech to the various licensees, explaining why they should be excited about Doctor Who. The message coming back, before I went into that meeting, was that 'Series Five means an aging brand'. And it struck me, my God, "Series Five" is a very, very, very boring number. But there are two other numbers you can use -- "Series Thirty-One" or "Series One."

It's just "the next series." So, basically, "Series One" is an exciting sentence. "Series Thirty-One" is an awe-inspiring sentence. "Series Five" is a boring sentence -- and also a complete lie.

 

[Worf2DS9]

No matter the official word, I'll still call it Series 5 for simplicity's sake.

 

[The Wormhole]

Since Moffat himself has used the term Fnarg, that's good enough for me. Besides, it's a cool word.

 

[captcalhoun]

it's series 5. 5 is not a lie.

 

[23skidoo]

I just got #417 today, and Moffat says there that, in his mind, it's season 31. For marketing purposes, it's season 1. And "season 5," in Moffat's eyes, is "a lie."

But that's #417 (the first one with the new logo and the solo photo of Smith). Apparently it was in issue 418 (Dalek on cover) where he made the statement that it's 31, full stop. Maybe in the interim between writing the two columns it was decided they had to come up with a firm decision?

Alex

 

[StCoop]

Maybe in the interim between writing the two columns it was decided they had to come up with a firm decision?

Thing is, no one at the BBC seems to be paying it any mind. (Even Red Bee Media who've produced the 3D trailer for the upcoming series are calling it Series 5.)