Strong indication DW and SJA safe until at least 2012

[23skidoo]

I've stepped away from this board due to a desire to avoid spoilers as the finale approaches in the UK (we won't see it in Canada for a month), and due to some unpleasantness I've been experiencing with certain contributors here, but I had to duck back in to pass along an interesting "reading between the lines" situation.

BBC Cymru has commenced construction of its new studio facility in Cardiff. The BBC press release indicates that production of Doctor Who and Sarah Jane Adventures will move there in 2012.

Which means the BBC is expecting to renew Doctor Who for at least an EIGHTH season, since Series 6 begins production in the next few weeks for broadcast in 2011; Series 7 would be produced in 2011 for broadcast in 2012, and so any production in 2012 would be for Series 8 which would air during the 50th anniversary year in 2013!

And for Sarah Jane that would make it Series 6 or 7.

Of course this assumes neither show takes a year off or does another "specials year" or whatever. Or the BBC changes its mind. Nonetheless, they mention it in the press release (along with Casualty), so that's a good sign (hell, they even had a Teletubby Dalek attend the sod-turning!):

http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2010/06_june/24/cymru.shtml

The fact Torchwood isn't mentioned doesn't mean a lot, since it's already been established that it's only partially being shot in Wales under the new agreement with Starz, so if the show's still running in 2012 by then it could be filmed anywhere.

Alex

 

[Starkers]

According to the tag if you hover over the picture the Dalek is called Rodney...

 

[Winterwind]

I've been wondering how long Doctor Who will run for this time around. And I actually think the gap we recently had is something worth repeating again in the future. To me, it helps keep the show fresh. Mind you 13 stories a season won't run out of steam the way a 20+ season in the US can but still, I think gap years with a few specials give the cast and crew team a much needed break.

 

[Starkers]

Hmm, whilst on the whole I think the gap was a good idea, I think it was poorly executed, I'd rather they did a truncated season ala Children of Earth than the scattrered disparate isolated episodes we actually got.

 

[The Wormhole]

Scatterd and isolated episodes aren't bad, if they actually spread them out through the year. I would have had Planet of the Dead on in the spring, Waters of Mars on in the summer, and The End of Time at Christmas. That way we get out Who fix throughout the year.

 

[Cutter John]

I could swear at one point either RTD, or Moffet said in an interview that they thought giving the show a rest every 5 seasons or so was a good idea.

But yeah, I'm withyou Wormhole. If they do this again, they need to spread the episodes out evenly over the course of a year.

So I'm wondering. If theres to be a new fascility in Cardiff, does that mean the show might actually film scenes in studio? It seems like every episode I can think of has used location filming.

 

[The]

Good news!

But, I actually prefer location-filming, versus a studio. I wonder why they are moving it? Is the Torchwood Hub not big enough for them to use as the console room? And, is it my imgaination, or are they NOT using the entire Hub for the console room? It seems to be smaller than the Hub was shown to be...

 

[Kelthaz]

Are people really worried about cancellation? This isn't Angel or Farscape we're talking about here. Doctor Who has had consistently high ratings for 6 years now and is routinely in the top five highest rated shows in all of England. Not to mention the huge international audience and merchandise. I haven't even read the article, but I'd say there's a strong indication that Doctor Who is safe until at least 2020. And that's a minimum.

That's great news about Sarah Jane though, because that show doesn't have the same immunity that Doctor Who has.

 

[captcalhoun]

a lot of episodes are filmed in studio as well as on location. it may just mean less dressing up Cardiff art galleries or churches as alien spaceships and shit...

good news either way, cuz it means the Beeb's committed to scripted dramas!

 

[Admiral_Young]

I seem to remember it was RTD who gave that statement a couple series back about giving the franchise a rest after five series. I suppose we did have something of a "technical" break during the specials. I'm not worried about cancellation and to be honest never considered how long this incarnation of the franchise would run for until reading the first post in this thread. It is a little interesting to consider.

Not watching "Doctor Who" before the revival I can't say anything about "Classic Doctor Who" but this incarnation has been really strong story telling, acting, action and adventure wise. The raitings have seem pretty stable for the most part each weekend both in the UK and in North American. Quite frankly outside of "Smallville" "Doctor Who" and "Torchwood" are the only shows on TV I'm really excited about right now. I know there are others out there right now but I simply don't have the time nor the interest to invest in them.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

I pretty much figured Doctor Who was safe until at least 2013 for the 50th anniversary, but this is certainly reassuring.