Doctor Whom

[You, sir, name?]

Just dropping this thing here.

http://scifi.icanhascheezburger.com/201 ... crossover/

[Jorpho]

A slightly less terrible idea than X-Men/Star Trek.

[Angua]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-17456505

New Doctor Who Companion unveiled. I haven't watched Emmerdale so I don't know anything about this actress.

[Diadem]

Hmm, she'll first appear in the christmas episode? Wow, that's nearly a full year away. In the interview that this was already decided a while ago too, but kept a secret.

Doctor Who is planned considerably further ahead of time than I would have thought.

Also, next series will be 14 episodes spread over 2 years? So we're only getting 7 episodes per year for the next 2 years? DAMN. That sucks.

[Jorpho]

It strikes me as par for the course as far as popular British TV goes.

[Rodion Raskolnikov]

It is par for the course for some programmes, but since the reboot Doctor Who has had 13 episodes a year plus specials (apart from the cross-over period of 2009). Cutting that back to 7 episodes a year seems kinda sucky.

[AvatarIII]

Hmm, she'll first appear in the christmas episode? Wow, that's nearly a full year away. In the interview that this was already decided a while ago too, but kept a secret.

Doctor Who is planned considerably further ahead of time than I would have thought.

Also, next series will be 14 episodes spread over 2 years? So we're only getting 7 episodes per year for the next 2 years? DAMN. That sucks.

it's actually 6 this year, (5 plus xmas) and 8 next year (I assume 7 plus xmas)
you know, if they are going to make the seasons so much shorter, I wish they'd change to a half hour format, give us 10x half hour episodes (5x 2 parters, or maybe a couple of 3 or 4 parters) instead of 5x 45 min ones, that would mean more cliffhangers, and a little bit extra dialogue to pad out the episodes.

[eSOANEM]

It strikes me as par for the course as far as popular British TV goes.

Yeah, UK series are traditionally 6 episodes long.

[Jorpho]

And the more popular it is, the shorter it gets, amirite?

[eSOANEM]

Well Sherlock only had 3 episodes each seris

[Giant Speck]

Well Sherlock only had 3 episodes each seris

Yeah, but how far apart are each series?

It makes me sad that Being Human only has eight episodes per series, and I have to wait an entire year between each series!

[Angua]

It's generally a year.

Sherlock is a special case though - each episode was 2 hours long!

[Diadem]

It strikes me as par for the course as far as popular British TV goes.

I guess you are right. Many British tv series have very short seasons. Though Doctor Who never did, until now.

Why is that though? I'm no expert on British culture, but I assume a year there lasts 52 weeks as well. Isn't a 46 week summer break somewhat on the long side?

US series usually seem to have 20-30 episodes per season. I already think that's rather short - only half the year. But with just 6 episodes it's hardly worth it following a series at all. By the time you've adapted to a schedule where you follow a series, it's already over. Might as well ignore the season, download all episodes at once after they are all broadcast, and treat it as an extended movie.

[ameretrifle]

See, you're assuming that every second a show isn't actually on the air, everyone involved in it is on "break". You have to keep in mind that, like, writing things takes time, and editing things takes time, and running things past committees takes time, and deciding where an episode should go in a season takes time, and casting people takes time, and getting an arseload of people and cameras to 20 locations per episode takes time, and shooting 200 different scenes takes time, &c &c... putting an episode together takes exponentially longer than watching it does. But I should leave that argument to someone who a) knows the industry better/is willing to actually look up cites and b) wouldn't be just as happy if either show in question stopped running altogether. XD

I agree that 6 episodes is rather short, but unless you're dealing with a reality show (and probably even then-- look at those lazy Daily Show sods ), expecting that anything with a serious acting/scriptwriting element could be on year-round is pretty seriously unrealistic. Or you could just have a lot of really shitty television.

*pictures actors holding up notebooks, "AND THEN PRETEND WE HAD A FIGHT SCENE 'COS WE DIDN'T HAVE TIME TO CHOREOGRAPH ONE AND PHIL KEPT KNOCKING OVER THE CAMERA WHEN WE TRIED TO ADLIB"*

[Angua]

By the time you've adapted to a schedule where you follow a series, it's already over.

You're assuming that British tv shows always air at the same time of day. They generally manage the same day, but exact times often vary.

[phlip]

*pictures actors holding up notebooks, "AND THEN PRETEND WE HAD A FIGHT SCENE 'COS WE DIDN'T HAVE TIME TO CHOREOGRAPH ONE AND PHIL KEPT KNOCKING OVER THE CAMERA WHEN WE TRIED TO ADLIB"*

Hey, that's not very nice, I'd... wait, yeah, I probably would. Never mind.

[AvatarIII]

It strikes me as par for the course as far as popular British TV goes.

I guess you are right. Many British tv series have very short seasons. Though Doctor Who never did, until now.

Why is that though? I'm no expert on British culture, but I assume a year there lasts 52 weeks as well. Isn't a 46 week summer break somewhat on the long side?

US series usually seem to have 20-30 episodes per season. I already think that's rather short - only half the year. But with just 6 episodes it's hardly worth it following a series at all. By the time you've adapted to a schedule where you follow a series, it's already over. Might as well ignore the season, download all episodes at once after they are all broadcast, and treat it as an extended movie.

the reason for short TV shows in the UK can be explained in several ways

a) The BBC being publicly funded means there is no reason to spread a show out to make it more profitable, as advertising does not come into it, and in a show like Doctor Who, number of episodes is closely proportional to cost, since every episode happens somewhere different, as opposed to a show like Stargate where they had one set and one Canadian forest and a bunch of props, and all they had to do was write more scripts to fit that as closely as possible and the more episodes made, the better the profit margin. Also lack of available locations, high cost of labour and other expenses make filming anything in the UK much more expensive than in the US or Canada.
b) Due to the BBC's funding method, there is greater pressure to please everyone, and make high quality programming, they can't just churn out any old shit unless it's called Eastenders, or is a family centred sitcom, because they are both cheap to make and generally well received by the masses, Doctor Who is both expensive to make, and niche, although due to clever marketing, and the fact DW has been around so long, and actively is aimed at both young and old, not as niche as it probably should be by all rights.
c) British commercial networks have tried and failed to make SF&F programming that nears the quality of the BBC for years, and have rarely if ever succeeded, the only thing that's come close in recent times is probably Black Mirror, which was only 3 episodes long.

[torontoraptor]

Because it should be posted here, even if I expect most everyone has seen it: trailer. Seems like lots of running, Wild West, and I think I spotted a Star Wars reference.

[eSOANEM]

It's generally a year.

Sherlock is a special case though - each episode was 2 hours long!

Dirk Gently then. Those were an hour IIRC.

Anyway, AvatarIII hit the nail on the head.

OT: that trailer is pretty cool. What was the star wars reference?

Spoiler:

The closest I could get to a star wars reference was the eye (totally a dalek) poking out of the snow.

[Jorpho]

I reckon if the CBC was doing the show, they'd have just gone off and cancelled it three seasons ago (rather than risk producing something that people might actually want to keep watching).

[animeHrmIne]

It's generally a year.

Sherlock is a special case though - each episode was 2 hours long!

Well, not really. Sherlock episodes are 1.5 hours long, and the times between are variable. It was 15 months between series one and series 2: November 2010 - January 2012. And they don't plan on filming series three until early 2013. Which has pros and cons:

• PRO: Martin Freeman and Benedict Cumberbatch are filming The Hobbit and There and Back Again, so we want them to be focused on that.
• PRO: Moffat is devoting all of 2012 to thinking about the 50th anniversary next November, so we have a slight hope he won't fuck it up.
• CON: With post-production, etc, we probably won't be getting Sherlock's next 3 episodes until Summer 2013, if that. Which is 18 months after the last series. And that isn't exactly a huge problem, except for the fact that when we hit 12 months last time things got a little . . . scary in the fandom. Everything was a bit disturbingly manic.

Still, at least we probably don't have to wait three years for John to find out. I hope.

/Sherlock Ranting in the wrong thread.

[AvatarIII]

It's generally a year.

Sherlock is a special case though - each episode was 2 hours long!

Well, not really. Sherlock episodes are 1.5 hours long, and the times between are variable. It was 15 months between series one and series 2: November 2010 - January 2012. And they don't plan on filming series three until early 2013. Which has pros and cons:

• PRO: Martin Freeman and Benedict Cumberbatch are filming The Hobbit and There and Back Again, so we want them to be focused on that.
• PRO: Moffat is devoting all of 2012 to thinking about the 50th anniversary next November, so we have a slight hope he won't fuck it up.
• CON: With post-production, etc, we probably won't be getting Sherlock's next 3 episodes until Summer 2013, if that. Which is 18 months after the last series. And that isn't exactly a huge problem, except for the fact that when we hit 12 months last time things got a little . . . scary in the fandom. Everything was a bit disturbingly manic.

Still, at least we probably don't have to wait three years for John to find out. I hope.

/Sherlock Ranting in the wrong thread.

BC is also filming Star Trek "2" at the moment,

[blue_girl]

it's actually 6 this year, (5 plus xmas) and 8 next year (I assume 7 plus xmas)
you know, if they are going to make the seasons so much shorter, I wish they'd change to a half hour format, give us 10x half hour episodes (5x 2 parters, or maybe a couple of 3 or 4 parters) instead of 5x 45 min ones, that would mean more cliffhangers, and a little bit extra dialogue to pad out the episodes.

Wait, so you're in favor of extra cliffhangers? When I finished watching "The Almost People" (S6E6)

Spoiler:

I just sat there, raging at Moffat for ending the episode there. I hated not knowing what was going to happen to Amy or the baby, and wondering how the Doctor would rescue them. I don't know if I could handle [i]more[/] cliffhangers...

[Jorpho]

And now, Doctor Who gets the spoils-all-everything RPG treatment. Not as good as some of the other vids of this type, but still quite nice.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gML41Vb9 ... r_embedded

[Diadem]

And now, Doctor Who gets the spoils-all-everything RPG treatment. Not as good as some of the other vids of this type, but still quite nice.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gML41Vb9 ... r_embedded

Awesome.

But where is the promised Doctor/Rory slashfiction?

[blue_girl]

And now, Doctor Who gets the spoils-all-everything RPG treatment. Not as good as some of the other vids of this type, but still quite nice.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gML41Vb9 ... r_embedded

Awesome.

But where is the promised Doctor/Rory slashfiction?

Agreed. That is a quite epic video.

Well, it's not written by the makers of the video, but here: http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Doctor%2FRory+slash+fiction

[You, sir, name?]

I love the old Liz Shaw episodes. It's complete science porn. People in lab coats operating various scientific equipment in every scene. I think at least two (out of the four) serials have nuclear reactors.

[The EGE]

I just watched the first two episodes the other night. A new Whovian has been converted.

[You, sir, name?]

First episodes from the '60s?

[The EGE]

New series - 9th Doctor.

[Robert'); DROP TABLE *;]

I have just finished watching Tom Baker in The Sunmakers, and was entertained immensely, although slightly let down because Moffat has spoiled me with his impeccable writing.

[charliepanayi]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/doctorwho/ar ... the-Daleks

[keozen]

Ohhh, the Special Weapons Daleks. Interesting.

[AvatarIII]

it's actually 6 this year, (5 plus xmas) and 8 next year (I assume 7 plus xmas)
you know, if they are going to make the seasons so much shorter, I wish they'd change to a half hour format, give us 10x half hour episodes (5x 2 parters, or maybe a couple of 3 or 4 parters) instead of 5x 45 min ones, that would mean more cliffhangers, and a little bit extra dialogue to pad out the episodes.

Wait, so you're in favor of extra cliffhangers? When I finished watching "The Almost People" (S6E6)

Spoiler:

I just sat there, raging at Moffat for ending the episode there. I hated not knowing what was going to happen to Amy or the baby, and wondering how the Doctor would rescue them. I don't know if I could handle [i]more[/] cliffhangers...

Ok, I took ages to see this post, but yes I'm in favour of more cliffhangers, they were always part of what made Doctor Who what it was, it's a device that can and does only work in episodic formatted media, I always felt the lack of cliffhangers makes every episode of New Who feel more like a rushed movie, than an episode of a TV serial.

[You, sir, name?]

Walked past this chalk-graffiti today


Hard to see, but the man on the right has a bowtie.

[Angua]

So, BBC America has started showing adverts for the next season of Dr Who starting in the fall.

Spoiler:

So, we seem to have an entire government of Dalek, dinosaurs on a space ship, weeping angels, and lots of Amy and Rory. I thought we were getting a new companion? Didn't notice her if we are.

[Link]

So, BBC America has started showing adverts for the next season of Dr Who starting in the fall.

Spoiler:

So, we seem to have an entire government of Dalek, dinosaurs on a space ship, weeping angels, and lots of Amy and Rory. I thought we were getting a new companion? Didn't notice her if we are.

Spoiler:

IIRC we're getting the new companion at the end of the season, after a dramatic exit for Amy and Rory.

[eSOANEM]

Spoiler:

weeping angels

Ugh.

Spoiler:

The weeping angels were my favourite monsters. Blink's my favourite episode. But then in Time of Angels and Flesh and Stone, they completely ruined them for me by having "slow" angels (because of some babble about them waking up or some nonsense) and then showing them move whilst still apparently made of stone. They're only stone when they're being looked at, and they can't move then.

If they do do them again, I sincerely hope they return to Blink's style of using them, keep them off screen most of the time, never show them moving and drop the whole "image of an angel becomes an angel" crap which should have killed half the cast of blink and most of the other cast in Time of Angels and Flesh and Stone as well as Amy. Still, I do not hold out much hope.

[AvatarIII]

So, BBC America has started showing adverts for the next season of Dr Who starting in the fall.

Spoiler:

So, we seem to have an entire government of Dalek, dinosaurs on a space ship, weeping angels, and lots of Amy and Rory. I thought we were getting a new companion? Didn't notice her if we are.

Spoiler:

IIRC we're getting the new companion at the end of the season, after a dramatic exit for Amy and Rory.

Spoiler:

I think it's at the end of the half season.

[zeitpfeil]

Spoiler:

Yeah, I read that the new companion will be introduced in the christmas special