NG
This was the reason used by the production staff on Doctor Who for not going HD until the four specials in 2009/10. I would say that Doctor Who uses far more CGI shots than Merlin (with Merlin relying more on practical special effects rather than computer visual effects), and Doctor Who has an extra episode a year. Parts of Merlin are shot in France I think, so could this have an effect in terms of resources needed? Perhaps also that Doctor Who is a BBC in-house production, whereas Merlin is produced by an indie?
Yep - indies need to make a profit (they are commercial operations who are in the industry to make money for their owners/shareholders), and the BBC HD supplement is now less than it once was, and is effectively being ditched entirely next year (for new commissions - which Merlin isn't)
Suspect that if the show was commissioned in SD then they don't want to renegotiate and pay more for HD. Few indies have migrated from SD to HD during the lifetime of a show - though Spooks may be the first major drama indy commission that has when it comes back ?
noggin
Founding member
There would also be the issue of the CGI stuff costing more in HD?
This was the reason used by the production staff on Doctor Who for not going HD until the four specials in 2009/10. I would say that Doctor Who uses far more CGI shots than Merlin (with Merlin relying more on practical special effects rather than computer visual effects), and Doctor Who has an extra episode a year. Parts of Merlin are shot in France I think, so could this have an effect in terms of resources needed? Perhaps also that Doctor Who is a BBC in-house production, whereas Merlin is produced by an indie?
Yep - indies need to make a profit (they are commercial operations who are in the industry to make money for their owners/shareholders), and the BBC HD supplement is now less than it once was, and is effectively being ditched entirely next year (for new commissions - which Merlin isn't)
Suspect that if the show was commissioned in SD then they don't want to renegotiate and pay more for HD. Few indies have migrated from SD to HD during the lifetime of a show - though Spooks may be the first major drama indy commission that has when it comes back ?