It's definite - the doctor will be back after a time lapse
- Publication: Belfast Telegraph
- Date: 1985-03-02
- Author:
- Page: 13
- Language: English
BBC managing director Mr. Bill Cotton has promised millions of Dr. Who fans that their time traveller will be back on TV screens next year.
In an unprecedented move. Mr. Cotton telephoned Mr. David Saunders, co-ordinator of the Dr. Who Appreciation Society, and told him that the programme would be back in Autumn 1986.
The assurance follows the BBC's decision to spend 500,000 on a new American mini-series after saying it could not currently afford the £200,000 a programme cost of Dr. Who.
The mini-series, Kane and Abel which the BBC has not seen is being made by Embassy Films, the American company once headed by Mr. Michael Grade - now controller of BBC 1, who ordered the next series of Dr. Who to be delayed for 18 months to save money for other drama projects.
The BBC said there was no direct relationship" between the decision to postpone Dr. Who and the purchase of Kane and Abel.
The BBC said Kane and Abel was bought in open competition with ITV at a figure which was a fraction of the production costs for Dr. Who.
Mr. Cotton told Mr. Saunders: "Dr. Who will be on the air in 1986 as it is in 1985 and as it has been for each of the past 22 years.
"Instead of running in January next year we shall wait until the start of the autumn schedule, and then Dr. Who will be a strong item in the line-up of programmes."
Fans feared that the Doctor might not return to the screen.
Mr. Cotton said: "We are going back to the old tradition and have 25-minute programmes, rather than the 45-minute version running at the moment. We think that is what the public wants, and so does the producer and his team."
The BBC said the current series of Dr. Who was costing about £2m around £200,000 an episode, and not, as earlier understood, £100,000 a programme.
Mr. Cotton said the 45- minute episodes had been a good experiment, but Dr. Who needed to get back to basics and to establish ways, while 25-minute episodes meant that the series could run longer.
He told fans: "We appreciate the passionate support of the fan club in this country, and of fans around the world.. We ask them to be a little patient while we get the Doctor back on to the familiar rails."
Mr. Ian Levine, spokesman for the Dr. Who Fan Club, said: "We are not interested in the BBC's plans of waiting another 18 months for another new series of the programme. We want the show to come back into production in June so it can be screened at the end of the year."
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- APA 6th ed.: (1985-03-02). It's definite - the doctor will be back after a time lapse. Belfast Telegraph p. 13.
- MLA 7th ed.: "It's definite - the doctor will be back after a time lapse." Belfast Telegraph [add city] 1985-03-02, 13. Print.
- Chicago 15th ed.: "It's definite - the doctor will be back after a time lapse." Belfast Telegraph, edition, sec., 1985-03-02
- Turabian: "It's definite - the doctor will be back after a time lapse." Belfast Telegraph, 1985-03-02, section, 13 edition.
- Wikipedia (this article): <ref>{{cite news| title=It's definite - the doctor will be back after a time lapse | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/It%27s_definite_-_the_doctor_will_be_back_after_a_time_lapse | work=Belfast Telegraph | pages=13 | date=1985-03-02 | via=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=21 May 2026 }}</ref>
- Wikipedia (this page): <ref>{{cite web | title=It's definite - the doctor will be back after a time lapse | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/It%27s_definite_-_the_doctor_will_be_back_after_a_time_lapse | work=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=21 May 2026}}</ref>
