Series 13 not shooting until September
- Thread starter StCoop
- Start date
I don't expect them to produce as much as Trek did, but 10 or 12 episodes per year with no year breaks should be doable.
Other than budget-wise, Death In Paradise, which has a similar budget, has a five-month shoot in one location. DW has a nine-month shoot plus another month for the special, and a month in between - eleven months in total, roughly. Since airing the season takes almost three months, so to get a yearly start on the same date the cast and crew would only get a month off per year, and it has to stretch it's budget for paying the wages twice as far as the Death In Paradise shoot.....
What in your experience in British TV production informs your “should”?
I get it, we all want more of the thing we love, but let’s not let our love and desire cloud the realities of BBC budgeting and the requirements of Doctor Who production—which is different than an episode of Miranda.
So, getting beyond the annoyance as fan over the extended delay. I mean, no one likes waiting for something they really want to see. While I'm disappointed, I'm not angry or anything like that. However, there are a couple of practical problems or signs that I see from this.
1) It's difficult to build up enthusiasm and momentum for Whitaker's Doctor with these gaps. Perhaps UK fans are more used to it and not such at factor there. (Although, I still wonder about losing more casual viewers even so.) But, certainly here in the States, viewers lose their interest quickly and easily. In practical terms, these gaps will only hurt the show.
2) I get the BBC funding is being reduced. However, assuming DW still brings in more money from abroad, certainly it would make sense having a season annually to bring in that overseas money more frequently. I'm scratching my head over that one. Plus, I'd imagine merchandizing sells more when the show is on the air. Yeah, I know, the BBC isn't a money making operation. However, you've got to think with more overseas money, they'd be able to produce more of the "artsy" non-profitable shows. Allows them to expand their mission.
3) The lengthening gap suggests that DW just isn't as high of a priority for the BBC as it used to be. They certainly could produce a season more quickly if they chose to do so. It's even probably in their financial interest to do so. However, they chose not to do that. Presumably, there must be other higher priority projects. (I suppose that could be the Olympics, at least partially?)
I see many similarities between the later era of the classic show and now. I wouldn't be surprised if the series was rested after Chibnall and Whitaker are done.
1) It's difficult to build up enthusiasm and momentum for Whitaker's Doctor with these gaps. Perhaps UK fans are more used to it and not such at factor there. (Although, I still wonder about losing more casual viewers even so.) But, certainly here in the States, viewers lose their interest quickly and easily. In practical terms, these gaps will only hurt the show.
2) I get the BBC funding is being reduced. However, assuming DW still brings in more money from abroad, certainly it would make sense having a season annually to bring in that overseas money more frequently. I'm scratching my head over that one. Plus, I'd imagine merchandizing sells more when the show is on the air. Yeah, I know, the BBC isn't a money making operation. However, you've got to think with more overseas money, they'd be able to produce more of the "artsy" non-profitable shows. Allows them to expand their mission.
3) The lengthening gap suggests that DW just isn't as high of a priority for the BBC as it used to be. They certainly could produce a season more quickly if they chose to do so. It's even probably in their financial interest to do so. However, they chose not to do that. Presumably, there must be other higher priority projects. (I suppose that could be the Olympics, at least partially?)
I see many similarities between the later era of the classic show and now. I wouldn't be surprised if the series was rested after Chibnall and Whitaker are done.
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It's nice having the weekly discussions with other fan about the latest episode. It's just not the same when they drop all at once and people are at different points and you're talking about the season as a whole. Seeing an episode a week seems to maximize my enjoyment for each individual episode. Time to savor the previous episode and look forward to the next one.
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Why is Whittaker leaving already? I feel like I'm getting used to this new Doctor. Shouldn't they fill the role for a couple of years, until there's no other choice but to swap actors?
Right. There's that gap between series, which seems to suggest it's a lower priority in the BBC. Although, I suppose it could help some of the cast film their other series.
Most of the shows currently running on the BBC run the same number of episodes per year they started with. For example, the first season of Death in Paradise was 8 episodes, the current season, which includes the regeneration of the main character int his latest version, is also 8 episodes. Doctor Who, on the other hand started with 14 hours per year in 2005 and is now down to about 7 hours of Doctor Who a year at the current rate of 10 eps every 18 months. Coincidentally, this is exactly what happened in the 80s as the BBC was preparing on putting DW on ice indefinitely, going from 14 hours of Colin Baker's first season quickly to 7 hours and the cancellation of the series just a few years later. It appears, despite the relatively strong ratings of the show in compared to most other BBC productions, Doctor Who and its viewers are becoming a lesser and lesser priority for the beeb.
Brannon and Braga, huh? How about we check in with Rick and Berman?
Okay, now that I'm done being a smartass, that's not an apt comparison at all. Not just for the reasons already stated, although those are very legit too. First, Braga did not work on two Trek shows simultaneously. He was showrunner on Voyager for its fifth and sixth seasons (1998-2000) and Enterprise for the first three (2001-2004). And Berman didn't really have a direct hands-on involvement with the Trek shows, he was more an executive position directing the franchise as a whole while each show had its own dedicated production staff to take care of things. And again, they did so by relying on excessive amounts of overtime British labour unions would forbid. You can't take how Star Trek did things and expect Doctor Who to do anything similar.
Mostly speculation, I'm assuming Whittaker has a three season contract like Smith and Capaldi had. And all the modern Doctors were out the door the moment their contracts were done, even Tennant and Capaldi despite being life-long fans who dreamt of being the Doctor since childhood. So presumably season 13 will see Whittaker's contractual obligations met and she'll be moving on accordingly.
Do you want more shows of cheaper looking quality or less shows for quality? Those Judoon costumes aren’t cheap.
And the reality is: some day it’s gonna get canceled, when the costs outweigh the benefits. Is the time neigh? No. Because there’s funding, with HBOmax contributing, through to series 15.
Those Judoon costumes were made 10 years ago. The only cost they accrue is in warehouse space. The BBC is a state broadcaster which is funded by the TV tax. Whether a show continues on a state broadcaster is usually a political decision.
I think they actually did a new mask for the Commander in this season's episode. Note the patch of hair, all previous Judoon were bald.
A patch of hair. That must have set them back.
Do you think there is zero maintenance?
But, for the sake of argument, I'll give you the Judoon.
Because of budgetary constraints--because no show has an unlimited budget--would you like Doctor Who to cycle through the same five monsters with the same looks just patched up and have more episodes OR have less episodes and new creatures?
It's a political decision versus a profit one, but it all comes down to the same thing. Does it make sense to keep funding something that less and less people are watching? And the producers are trying to make do with what they have. Unless the TV "tax" is raised, what else are they supposed to do? The option is either make less episodes and have it look as good as it has OR make more episodes that look cheaper.
Which would you rather have? A quality looking show or a cheap one?
Are you claiming that Doctor Who's budget has been cut in half? Because cutting the show from 14 hours a year to 7 hours a year is cutting the yearly budget in half. Or are you claiming that making a scifi TV show in 2020 is twice as expensive across the board as it was in 2005 compared to every other kind of show?
Sigh. I'm not claiming anything like that. I'm saying it's expensive to make TV in the first place. And Doctor Who due to its very nature--each week new sets, costumes (some of them having to be built), new cgi backgrounds and laser beams, and monsters--is more expensive. Comparing it to other British shows--with standing sets, off the rack costumes--is foolish.
Also: even if the budget has remained the same, the series doesn't cost the same to produce. What you could get for 1 million pounds then isn't what you're going to get now.
If you're looking for some of proof of conspiracy that the BBC is trying to end Doctor Who, I don't know what to say... other than I don't really care and I don't think it's happening.
We will have at least 15 series of Doctor Who. That is extraordinary amount of show in this day and age. At some point, without a doubt, Doctor Who will be off the air and that's ok. The world hasn't ended and there wasn't a conspiracy behind it.
Calling someone a conspiracy theorist for pointing out facts in a desperate attempt to win a debate is hilarious. But that's the age we live in I suppose.
I'm not trying to win a debate?
:shrugs:
I didn't even know it was a debate.
So, help me out then, what exactly are you looking for when you bring up the what happened at the end of the first run of Doctor Who? Or that there are less episodes now? What is it that you are seeing that I am not?
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