Doctor goes independent
- Publication: The Stage and Television Today
- Date: 1989-11-30
- Author:
- Page: 19
- Language: English
DOCTOR Who, the BBC's longest-running drama serial, may be tendered out to an independent producer from next year.
And sources close to the show predict that changes in the regular cast may be made under the auspices of a new production team.
It is thought that an independent producer would probably look to produce as many as 26 episodes a year, twice as many as the BBC presently puts out, to meet the demands of the American market.
Among the parties believed to have expressed interest in taking the programme on are Saffron Productions, which last week won an International Emmy award for its arts documentary Gwen — A Juliet Remembered, and Cinema Verity, the company founded by the first ever Doctor Who producer, Verity Lambert.
Other people involved in the earlier days of the science fiction show who are understood to be looking at the possibility of producing it include Gerry Davies, a former Doctor Who script editor and creator of the cult sixties drama Doomwatch.
The option of an independently-produced Doctor Who was raised by Peter Cregeen, head of drama serials at the BBC.
A Corporation spokesman told The Stage and Television Today that the decision on the programme's future was being taken in the light of the BBC's commitment to using independent producers for a quarter of its total television output.
Although the show may be shot outside the Corporation, it will remain a BBC programme. Doctor Who remains one of the biggest moneyspinners in British television.
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- APA 6th ed.: (1989-11-30). Doctor goes independent. The Stage and Television Today p. 19.
- MLA 7th ed.: "Doctor goes independent." The Stage and Television Today [add city] 1989-11-30, 19. Print.
- Chicago 15th ed.: "Doctor goes independent." The Stage and Television Today, edition, sec., 1989-11-30
- Turabian: "Doctor goes independent." The Stage and Television Today, 1989-11-30, section, 19 edition.
- Wikipedia (this article): <ref>{{cite news| title=Doctor goes independent | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Doctor_goes_independent | work=The Stage and Television Today | pages=19 | date=1989-11-30 | via=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=26 March 2025 }}</ref>
- Wikipedia (this page): <ref>{{cite web | title=Doctor goes independent | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Doctor_goes_independent | work=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=26 March 2025}}</ref>
