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Doctor Who in 2005

(September 2004)

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MS
Mr-Stabby
Just thinking about this the other day.

Doctor Who is returning, and has been getting a lot of press coverage, it's the most anticipated return for a long time, there's big name stars in it, everything!

Now what sort of viewing figures do you reckon this show will get, and what will ITV use to steal viewers off it.

As the beeb say it's going to be on Saturdays, i'm guessing at about 7:30 i think they might put on Pop Idol against it. And knowing most of the people who watch TV nowadays, that'll lose Doctor Who a lot of viewers.

What do we think?
DO
D-O-P
Quote:
As the beeb say it's going to be on Saturdays, i'm guessing at about 7:30 i think they might put on Pop Idol against it. And knowing most of the people who watch TV nowadays, that'll lose Doctor Who a lot of viewers.


It'd be nice to think it'd work the other way around and steal viewers from ITV - which it could do if it's genuinely good! But what's the chance of it being genuinely good? Million dollar question...!
MS
Mr-Stabby
Well with such high profile writers such as Russell T Davies, i think it will be.
DO
D-O-P
Let's hope so!
CS
Cerulean Sunrise
I'm thinking this version of DW will be in the vein of Angel - the Buffy spinoff - suitable for a 8-9pm slot and with darker storylines and more action.

BTW a scene has already been cut - an Auton impersonates an MP, inflitrates the house of Commons and rips open his face. Needless to say the cowardly BBC pulled it after this month's shenanigans.

Cowardly because they're also upset at offending a few religious types by poking fun at the Pope - I mean come on! Monkey Dust made comedy out of paedophilia and cottaging. It's not like anyone watches BBC3 anyway.
DU
Dunedin
I think there will be a huge buzz around the first episode of the series- probably in the 2nd week of January,...as such I would expect an audience of around 11-12 million.

But the point is- can it maintain it? It has to retain the unique charm of the original series and the Britishness of it- any attempt to copy American sci-fi just won't work for mass British audiences- buffy, angel etc. all struggle to get 2 million viewers on BBC2.

It's also quite a long series by British standards at 13 episodes....but as with all BBC One dramas nowadays, it only needs to average 7 million (BBC One bosses would be delighted to have this for a saturday night banker) to be a hit and get an immediate recomission.
MS
Mr-Stabby
I think it's been delayed and might be shown in March, but no one is sure about that yet.

One thing we do know is that it will be not a lot like the old series, i mean the doctor dosen't have a hat or scarf, he has a leather jacket!!
BH
BillyH Founding member
Maybe we should have a spoiler tag on this thread, or something, as now I know Autons are going to be in it.

As for the hat and scarf thing, there have been 8 Doctors before the current one, and only Tom Baker had them both! (Other Doctors had a hat, but they were different)
CS
Cerulean Sunrise
Spoiler
There will only be one Dalek as we know it, and then a set of "modern, evolved" Daleks. Source: Mirror
MS
Mr-Stabby
You can't beat Colin Baker and his techni-coloured dreamcoat !!

http://www.unseenuni.freeserve.co.uk/Colin_Baker_5.jpg
SM
smeg_head
I for one can't wait for the new series. I think many Dr Who fans are living in the past and can't accept that the format needs to move on to survive. Look at Star Trek The Next Genration - it was a complete revamp and despite many fans complaining/moaning during the first two seasons it eventually won them over and became one of the most successful TV shows ever. (Second only to Baywatch I think.)

I think the 1996 Dr Who Tv movie with Paul McGann was brilliant, a real breath of fresh air. The gothic production design was gorgeous and McGann had great potential, just a shame that a few continuinty errors let it down.

The news that the Daleks will appear in the new series, as well as rumours of a UNIT appearence means that despite the glossy new look the show will be faithful to it's past (one of TNG's strenghts!)
ST
Stuart
tsunami__active posted:
It's also quite a long series by British standards at 13 episodes.....


I thought 13 was the standard length for British series, as opposed to the US standard of 21. Or is it normally shorter for drama series in the UK??

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