When Does "Waters of Mars" Air?
- Thread starter Tulin
- Start date
Davies said awhile ago "November-ish." That's all we know.
Wouldn't it be quadruple blast?
Waters of Mars
Sarah Jane two-parter
Xmas special
New Years special
Wait, when did we find out when Sarah Jane Adventures was starting?
Gallifrey Base (the blog, not the forum) has it on their news section that it starts this fall. Also, this press release from the bbc says Tennant's episodes will air before November.
Ah, cool. I hadn't heard that news. I can't wait. 
The BBC has a long-standing, and annoying habit of not announcing airdates for Doctor Who until as little as a week or so before broadcast. The logic of this escapes me; American networks usually have their dates nailed down months in advance. It's rumored to be one of the reasons why there's not as much coordination as there could be between North American and UK broadcasts (not the only reason, but one of them).
If the pattern holds we might hear of a broadcast dates for WoM around Halloween. The two-parter is a bit different because we know one of the chapters airs on Christmas Day in the UK but what we don't know is whether the finale will air on Boxing Day, New Year's Eve, New Years Day, or another date entirely. There's been no word on North American broadcast, though there's been some mumbling that we might not see the final two-parter till the new year...
Alex
If the pattern holds we might hear of a broadcast dates for WoM around Halloween. The two-parter is a bit different because we know one of the chapters airs on Christmas Day in the UK but what we don't know is whether the finale will air on Boxing Day, New Year's Eve, New Years Day, or another date entirely. There's been no word on North American broadcast, though there's been some mumbling that we might not see the final two-parter till the new year...
Alex
WIsh they'd have spread them out a bit more. Say September - November - December. Stuck here in the dog days of summer, November seems like years away. 
it's to prevent counter-programming.
i'd bet on it airing around November 23 for the anniversary...
i'd bet on it airing around November 23 for the anniversary...
I doubt it'll be that late somehow. I wish they'd put it on during August or September so they were more evenly spaced but never mind.
SJA is starting in September - it was part of a 'coming in September' montage on CBBC. So Tennant will be on towards the end of October.
SJA is starting in September - it was part of a 'coming in September' montage on CBBC. So Tennant will be on towards the end of October.
R
Rocketman
Guest
Why does the BBC care about counter-programming? It's not like they're selling advertising blocks around the programme.
Because they are still in a competitive environment, and if their big expensive shows don't pull in the viewers they will get complains from the usual sources about wasting Licence payers money on expensive shows that don't get viewers. It's fine with cheap shows on BBC 3 and 4, or to a certain extent 2, but expensive shows on their "mainstream" channel have to compete still.
Fair enough, except for a few things. First, Doctor Who is so huge in the UK they shouldn't care. Journey's End got giant ratings, and the specials so far haven't done too badly. Hell, a documentary series currently underway is scoring record ratings.
Second, "counter programming" doesn't seem to be an issue with American networks that announce their schedules months in advance. And in the UK the only real competition are Channel 4 and whatever ITV station is in the area, as well as the other BBCs, and the BBC can just schedule tiddlywink competitions on their other channels. (Yeah I know there's satellite too, but NBC, ABC, CBS and Fox don't care what's on, say, HBO, so the BBC shouldn't care what's on Sky One.)
It's an outdated and stupid way of doing business.
Alex
WTF are you talking about? BBC One, BBC Two, ITV 1, Channel 4, Five, ITV 2, ITV 3, ITV 4, BBC 3, BBC 4, Sky Three, More 4, E4, Film4, Dave, Fiver, Five USA, Virgin 1, Yesterday plus timeshifted variants of various channels are all free to air channels that are available to almost the entire country. There's not only 4 channels here any more, and hasn't been for a LONG time. Also the difference between HBO and Sky One is that Sky One is available to around 58% of the population and is pretty much a basic channel, not a premium one like HBO or Showtime.
And don't be stupid, of course you suffer it in America. NBC put a new show on and then it has to go up against CSI it is more than likely gonna lose out.
And despite the fact Doctor Who is huge ITV schedule X-Factor or Britain's Got Talent against it it will get hurt in the ratings.
No,it's a DIFFERENT way of running the TV business. And comparing British broadcasting too closely to America can be mistaken: Sky doesn't dent BBC1 in terrestrial households, but it does in satellite ones,and with digital switchover in play that's an increasing proportion.
Counter programming doesn't matter so much in US TV because of the same show running in the same slot for most of the year, with repeats to pad out the 26 new episodes, so to an extent the whole success of the series is staked on the gamble of how it works in its first few weeks, and then the only question about the flops is whether to cancel mid-run or move them for a second try.
In the Uk, with six or seven week runs common, there are effectively five new seasons each year - a successful new series can suddenly slump as weak competition is replaced by a returning hit, and a series whichg was struggling can lose strong competition on the other side and recover. So what fills an imminent gap is something heopposition would like to know. Plus even successful, ongoing series like the soaps can move slots or run extra episodes to create an event night designed to spoil a launch on another channel.
One recent example is Planet of the Dead, where the BBc's line-up of Robin Hood, Who and a talent show ran in such an order as to spoil ITV's run of a lead-killing Primeval and the start of one of their big hitters, with Primeval getting less than half its usual audience.
Similarly, Who is not a guaranteed hit. I would imagine that what the BBC schedulers are currently mulling over is whether to risk clashing it with the final of The X-Factor. One way, they smash ITV's biggest show; the other, they lose audience for the start of Tennant's departure trilogy, with possible knock-on effects for the Christmas episodes.
It is very cut throat - I worked in Tv listings years back, and for big events you would get schedule changes coming in every half hour on deadline day, as the big broadcasters manouvred their big guns to get the best advantage.
The X-Factor final is usually the first week of December isn't it? Certainly very close to the single release in time for Christmas anyway.
The best place for Waters is, unfortunately, at 6pm during November or if we're lucky October. Doctor Who will never beat The X-Factor because so many people watch it. Wasn't it Silence in the Library that got put against Britain's Got Talent and lost out?
The best place for Waters is, unfortunately, at 6pm during November or if we're lucky October. Doctor Who will never beat The X-Factor because so many people watch it. Wasn't it Silence in the Library that got put against Britain's Got Talent and lost out?
I think it shaved a couple of million off the average... or was that a football match?
Pretty sure it was BGT, because aired in May/June 2008 on a Saturday evening when I doubt there was any football still on.
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