Aha! Shocker!
What do you reckon to the news? I'm surprised by how much I like the idea.
A midseries break had been suggested in the past (on ming-mong fanboards) and I'd kinda gone "...hahaha, no." But when I read about it, I actually found myself psyched. How you actually react to some things is apparently completely detached to how you expect to react.
I think it's great, though. Two series openers! Two finales! A brilliant cliffhanger! Episodes in the Autumn when it gets dark sooner and you get to watch it with the streetlights on!
I don't really think of the series as having much filler... but every single week will be nigh-on unmissable. There's a point towards the middle where a new episode isn't so much of an event, as another brilliant episode. When you get into the rhythm of it. And I like that, I love thinking "I'm in the middle of a series of Doctor Who." But, the event episodes are the ones you look forward to. I remember Vampires of Venice was the first of the series I wasn't particularly psyched about, and now that'll be leading into a first series finale.
I like how he's referring to it as two separate series, as well. He's right. They do produce two series' worth of material. Why not capitalise on that and produce two series? It's great! Plus, he's right inasmuch as the wait between the series is agonising. I've always lamented that wait a bit. After any series finale, I'm already psyched for the next series - which won't come till March. That's like looking forwards to Christmas in February! It's massive. Doctor Who all year round is A Good Thing. Doubling the events is A Good Thing.
Plus... could get Torchwood in the middle! That's exciting. If they're plotting but not casting, it could well be ready for broadcast between the end of series 6, start of series 7.
Ashes to Ashes never felt short. These series are only one or two episodes shy of their series totals. Looking forwards to this so much more than I thought I was going to. Actually, I was horrified by the idea when fans came up with it. Maybe I'm just a stupid drooling fanboy! Or maybe I inherently distrust fans who think they can run the show better than the production team.
Either way, very optimistic.
Course, the negative aspects...
Less Doctor Who in one chunk. I'm a greedy bastard, it'll be hell knowing I have to stave off dessert. And they'll have set all the pins up for the seventh series, too. I will definitely notice that it's shorter.
But, worse of all, much easier to get spoiled. They're producing it as one chunk, aren't they? That means that they'll be filming... well over half a year in advance! That's a massive window of opportunity for info to leak. Too long!
Mind you, the extra production time may mean that they get a lot more time to finish up the SFX and make it all look beautiful. They already do wonders on a BBC budget, and while having to do TWO finales will stretch that further, the time's gotta be handy.
Also, it'll be interesting to have a different flow. Series 1-5 all had roughly similar rhythms. The experimental ones towards the end (Human Nature, Vincent and the Doctor, Turn Left, Love & Monsters, etc.), the two-parter a few weeks in... it'd be nice if series 7 in the autumn opened with a two-parter. That's where it traditionally fits into the pattern of the series. 8/9 two-parter, 10 and 11 a bit odd, 12/13 two-parter. That'd be grand.
...I'm an opinionated man.
Topic: Doctor Who (Read 216604 times)
