between fans and the Managing Director |
|
The BBC's 22-year-old time-travelling, series, Dr Who, has become the latest victim of the new broadcasting broom, Mr Michael Grade, controller of BBC 1.
Colin Baker, the actor who plays the show's mercurial star, was told yesterday morning that the next series is to be postponed because of a shortage of studio space and production funds. It will not be seen on British screens until the autumn of next year.
The news, broken to production staff on Tuesday, rapidly spread to the Doctor Who Fan Club, which protested to the BBC. There were signs within the corporation that the decision was ill received there. Dr Who has been a consistent audience-winner since 1963 and is now into its sixth leading actor. The present series ends on March 30 and the programme was due to return next January, But filming is to be delayed until the 1986 financial year.
A rest for the show will not affect its profitable worldwide sales to an audience of more than 100 million.
International audiences, most importantly those in the US, are several series behind British viewers. The BBC is acutely aware of the Dr Who's profitability overseas; and the doctor's latest companion is an American.
Mr Grade, who made the decision on postponement, was on a skiing holiday in France yesterday and unavailable for comment. The BBC said: "We intend to make a lot of new drama this year and we cannot afford to do that and Dr Who. The BBC is committed to the future 'of Dr Who and there is no question of the series's being axed."
Disclaimer: These citations are created on-the-fly using primitive parsing techniques. You should double-check all citations. Send feedback to whovian@cuttingsarchive.org
