I realise that programme planning depends on many different factors, but from the viewer perspective if you leave something for too long surely you pass from longing through frustration to grouchy indifference. i appreciate that Doctor Who requires a lot of time and preparation to complete a season – 13 episodes of scripting, casting, rehearsing, shooting, post-production, special effects and promotion – but a considerable gap between Christmas the next series seems too much.
Yes, I know that 2013 represents the 50th birthday celebration for the series and that we probably have something big to look forward to, but… This year we will only get five episodes and a Christmas story, and then the remaining seven episodes in the New Year. We have a single season stretched over a two year period.
I could swear this sort of thing happened in the past and meant the death of the series. Colin Baker suffered something similar, a whole year slipping by before his forced generation into Sylvester. Might the 50th year be the last? If not, can we expect further loss of momentum? How can BBC Worldwide sell a series like this to media hungry Americans (and similar) when they have so little to offer up. The average US citizen and scifi fan will have seasons of 20+ shows and multiple options of like-themed entertainment to fall back on. Here, the BBC offers up a smattering, a splodge, a smear of Who.
I dearly hope we have a pile of quality Who to look forward to, with every story a jewel, a winner. I, as a fan, hate the waiting – and I’ll hate it even more if we get to the episodes themselves and find them lacking. You cannot live off good will alone. Long term fans have been stung before. With the passing of Sarah Jane and the quiet suicide of Torchwood, we only have original Who to fall back on. Don’t let us down, Mr Moffat.