Friday, May 14, 2004
"Doctor Who" set for Christmas Day?
Personally I don't think this is a good idea.
Of course, this wouldn't be the first time that "Doctor Who" has been shown on Christmas Day. Back in 1965, 'The Feast of Steven', the 7th episode of the 12-part 'The Daleks' Master Plan' was shown on the 25th. However, that didn't really advance the plot, being a fairly self-contained episode that viewers could afford to miss without ruining their enjoyment of the rest of the story.
The adventure that would be shown on 25 December 2004 is a completely different kettle of fish, with a much more important role to play. It's the first new "Doctor Who" episode in over eight years and only the second in over fifteen. It must therefore reintroduce the show and the new Doctor as well a new companion Rose Tyler. Viewers who miss this episode might potentially be lost to the new series for the rest of the season.
Those in favour of scheduling "Doctor Who" on Christmas Day will point to the possibility of large audiences, especially since the BBC traditionally wins the Christmas ratings battle with ITV1. But how many of the big ratings successes are launching or relaunching a new series? Few, if any. Most of BBC One's programmes between, say, 3pm and 10pm are film premieres, comedy and family-orientated programmes, so "Doctor Who" doesn't really fit into the typical Christmas programming.
There's also the fact that fewer viewers than usual are in control of the remote control on Christmas Day. They're either visiting friends and relatives and have friends or relatives visiting them. In these circumstances, the BBC would run the risk of viewers switching over when "Doctor Who" starts, even if some of them would actually want to watch it.
The 1996 TVM worked well on a Bank Holiday, so there's no reason to suspect that either Monday 27 or Tuesday 28 wouldn't work, but this time around we're getting a whole season not just a one-off, so it would make more sense to debut on the show's regular day. If Christmas fell midweek, then the Saturday between Christmas and New Year would be a possibility, but in 2004 it falls on a Saturday, so its either Christmas Day, New Years Day or January 8th - personally I'd go for the 8th as it avoids transmitting the show on a day when not everyone is able to choose what they're watching.
Personally I don't think this is a good idea.
Of course, this wouldn't be the first time that "Doctor Who" has been shown on Christmas Day. Back in 1965, 'The Feast of Steven', the 7th episode of the 12-part 'The Daleks' Master Plan' was shown on the 25th. However, that didn't really advance the plot, being a fairly self-contained episode that viewers could afford to miss without ruining their enjoyment of the rest of the story.
The adventure that would be shown on 25 December 2004 is a completely different kettle of fish, with a much more important role to play. It's the first new "Doctor Who" episode in over eight years and only the second in over fifteen. It must therefore reintroduce the show and the new Doctor as well a new companion Rose Tyler. Viewers who miss this episode might potentially be lost to the new series for the rest of the season.
Those in favour of scheduling "Doctor Who" on Christmas Day will point to the possibility of large audiences, especially since the BBC traditionally wins the Christmas ratings battle with ITV1. But how many of the big ratings successes are launching or relaunching a new series? Few, if any. Most of BBC One's programmes between, say, 3pm and 10pm are film premieres, comedy and family-orientated programmes, so "Doctor Who" doesn't really fit into the typical Christmas programming.
There's also the fact that fewer viewers than usual are in control of the remote control on Christmas Day. They're either visiting friends and relatives and have friends or relatives visiting them. In these circumstances, the BBC would run the risk of viewers switching over when "Doctor Who" starts, even if some of them would actually want to watch it.
The 1996 TVM worked well on a Bank Holiday, so there's no reason to suspect that either Monday 27 or Tuesday 28 wouldn't work, but this time around we're getting a whole season not just a one-off, so it would make more sense to debut on the show's regular day. If Christmas fell midweek, then the Saturday between Christmas and New Year would be a possibility, but in 2004 it falls on a Saturday, so its either Christmas Day, New Years Day or January 8th - personally I'd go for the 8th as it avoids transmitting the show on a day when not everyone is able to choose what they're watching.
