Wednesday 28 September 2011

Confidential axed by the BBC


An article on The Guardian's website has revealed that Doctor Who behind the scenes show Doctor Who Confidential is the latest victim of the corporation's budget cuts.

The BBC Doctor Who website have confirmed this news & added that the upcoming episode (due to be aired on Saturday 1st October at 8.35pm) will be the last.

This is from The Guardian article:

Doctor Who Confidential, which features behind-the-scenes footage from the making of Doctor Who as well as interviews with the cast and crew, has aired in an early evening slot on BBC3 since 2005, when the corporation revived the main series with Christopher Eccleston as the ninth Time Lord.

However, with the corporation facing budget cuts of up to 20% across its output as part of its "Delivering Quality First" initiative, BBC controller Zai Bennett has chosen to axe the show at the end of its current series.

Bennett is understood to be pursuing a strategy of focusing investment on original commissions in post-watershed time slots.

Speaking last month at the MediaGuardian Edinburgh International Television Festival, Bennett said: "It's about focusing my budget on 9pm and 10pm; those are the time slots that count. Budgets are tight, so we have to be sensible with the money we have."

Personally I have really enjoyed the behind the scenes clips & the extra peeks at the cast that we got to see on DWC so I'm not happy about this latest development.

How do you feel about it?

7 comments:

  1. Save the show (sign the petition)!
    http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/savethedoctor

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  2. May this be a warning to the current DW production team. Keep producing rubbish like Closing Time, and the main series could soon follow.

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  3. I can't believe they're axing it, it's unbelievable! They should look at some of the other drivel they show on BBC 3 before deciding to axe a popular informative show like Confidential.

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  4. Well, really, without the glorious, perfect beauty of Beth Willis, what's the point of it anymore?

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  5. Hey, Closing Time was brilliant. Tosser!

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  6. Confidential should stay! I have an autistic son, who is terrified of 'monsters'. Without Confidential showing the behind-the-scenes clips of the 'monsters' getting into costume, I'm sure my son would believe they were real, and I'd never be able to let him watch another episode of Doctor Who (which happens to be his favourite TV show).
    I also found that it is has been a vital tool in sorting out the more confusing plot twists. In the latest episode, being able to see River Song's timeline progression helped many people to get that all straight in their heads.
    Confidential isn't a side-series, it's an essential part of my viewing schedule!

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