"BBC Wastes Cash On Dr Who"- TREVOR EVE!!!

[Dino]

In this weeks Radio Times (the interview picked up by the Daily Mirror and put on page 20 next to a double spread about The Yorkshire Ripper) Trevor Eve... well:

Waking The Dead's Trevor Eve has blasted the BBC for spending too much on Doctor Who- and claims his own hit drama should have been axed in 2007.
Eve, 49, said of the time travel show: "The programme is great, but it was created for kids in 1963. One doesn't need to say more. They spend too much on Top Gear too."
And the actor, reportedly paid £1 million a series for his popular BBC 1 detective show, which comes to an end this year said: "It should have ended in 2007. We made 82 hours- some excellent scripts and some really bad ones."
Asked if he had this opinion because he was an old fart, he replied, "I'm not that f*****g old. I'm not saying everything popular is bad, but it's desperate when nothing can exist unless it achieves financial rewards. Everything is results."
In this week's Radio Times, the dad-of-three added "We even have shows with people judging results. Is there anything on TV that isn't four people on a panel?" (Er... Like Doctor Who?-Dino)
Eve, who plays Peter Boyd, said the cast of Waking The Dead, which first aired in 2000 and still has eight million viewers, had got "too comfortable".
"You get this feeling of repetition, and you have to move on. I don't know how actors do soaps."

WELL! For a start Trevor, Doctor Who was intended as a FAMILY show right after the Football results leading into Saturday night entertainments!
Is this just an actor having a strop because the works ending? Do you think he has a point? There's a lot of reality junk on TV, I'll admit that. But "Four people on a panel"? There's not enough of that as he's making out.
Will his three children forgive him? Isn't this basically "Hi I'm the serious British actor Trevor Eve and I appear in the gritty detective drama Waking The Dead... and all my children care about is lousy Doctor Who! Whine! Moan!"

If anyone gets the Radio Times, could you kindly type out the whole interview for more details please? And I bet you he gets offered a guest part in the show?...

[SiHart]

What an old misery.

Si xx

[Perry Vale]

What an old misery.

Si xx

He's not. He's an overpaid old misery.

[Jason Thompson]

Yes, it's terrible that the BBC spends so much money on one of their most popular TV shows, isn't it?

[Si Hunt]

The programme is great, but it was created for kids in 1963. One doesn't need to say more.

?!?

I think we should axe Coronation Street. It was created to educate people about northern folk in 1960.

ONE DOESN'T NEED TO SAY MORE.

Si.

[Perry Vale]

Off-topic....what is the difference between Waking The Dead and Silent Witness?

[SiHart]

The moral of this ridiculous outburst is that we should only make programmes that Trevor Eve both likes and can star in.

Si xx

[Si Hunt]

If they offered him a lucrative part in Doctor Who, I wonder if he'd turn it down out of principle?

Si.

[Larry]

The programme is great, but it was created for kids in 1963.

it really pisses me off the amount of times I hear this....

One doesn't need to say more

how about Doctor Who, is one of the most successfull and popular programms on tv in the last 10 years and is regularly the most watched BBC, programm of the week. Or even brings in huge proffits from the sales of merchandise - can Mr Eve, say any of the above for anything he has appeared in..

[Perry Vale]

Eve, 49, said..."I'm not that f*****g old"

No he isn't, he's 59....

[Logo Polish]

I shouldn't worry about replying to his comments, I doubt if he'll be reading anything here. Although if he is, Hello Trevor, and do you know if there's any chance of Shoestring coming out on Region 2 DVD anytime soon, preferably unedited?

[Dirk Gently]

I think we should axe Coronation Street.
Si.

I quite agree!!

[Zbigniev Hamson]

it really pisses me off the amount of times I hear this....


[/B]

how about Doctor Who, is one of the most successfull and popular programms on tv in the last 10 years and is regularly the most watched BBC, programm of the week. Or even brings in huge proffits from the sales of merchandise - can Mr Eve, say any of the above for anything he has appeared in..

I think it's that whole huge profits thing that he has a problem with. It's the BBC, it shouldn't be about huge profits. Obviously with commercial TV, things that bring in viewers will run and run no matter how tired they get, things that don't pull in viewers will get axed no matter how artistically good they are. From the quote I read he seems to be trying to say that the BBC should be concentrating on quality andkeeping things fresh, trying new things, letting new talent in etc. Didn't he even say his own show should have been axed ages ago just because it's getting too comfortable?

[Si Hunt]

What happens to the profit the BBC makes from the merchandise? Doesn't it go back into programming?

Si.

[Zbigniev Hamson]

Probably. Apart from the chunk that the companies who buy the licenses make of course. But it's not really a question of where the money goes, it's more about that attitude of turning the BBC into basically another commercial station.

I'm not saying Mr Eve ISN'T being a miserable old fart, and basically just having a good old rant. But I think there's probably as little truth in what he's saying. I do think most of what the BBC makes these days is formulaic dross.

[Perry Vale]

Of course I've yet to see the full article, but just what exactly does Mr.Eve think is a good example of modern telly? And are ITV, C4 or $ky making them? Hmm?

The BBC are always going to be easy targets due to how they're funded, but I do think it's very telling that every Christmas, when people are somewhat "forced" to watch tv, they seem to always choose the Beeb. This year they had 8 of the 10 most watched programmes, and have had similar shares for the last few.

I might be an atypical viewer, but I don't watch Top Gear. It's not really my thing. I don't begrudge my license fee being spent on it though, as it's obviously very popular with others. And it's the most illegally downloaded show in the US which says something.

And yes, the "profits" are pumped back in to the corporation, so I really fail to see any downside in the BBC's shows doing well around the globe, commercially. It seems, as often is so, that it's the British themselves who are the least proud of their own achievements!

[Andrew Curnow]

He's certainly spot on that Waking The Dead should have been axed before now - IMHO it's never been as good since they got rid of Mel/Frankie, and some of the stories have been just ludicrous.

I do, though, like the idea of using "One doesn't need to say more" as the conclusive end to every argument. For example - season 24 is the best run of Doctor Who stories ever. One doesn't need to say more. See, easy!!

BTW, I note that Trevor Eve is shortly to star in a new series on ITV, maybe he's taken the opportunity to blast the BBC now that he's no longer looking for work from them?

[Si Hunt]

I think we should all use this phrase more often.

One doesn't need to say more.

Si.

[Captain Tancredi]

The BBC doesn't need to waste all that money on weather forecasts either- I have a window.

Yes, the BBC could spend the money they allocate to Who on something else. But there's no guarantee that it would be as popular, successful- or that the Beeb wouldn't be inundated to bring Who back. Just because the BBC does have a remit to produce new and challenging drama doesn't mean that [I]everything[I] has to be fresh and original, or people will just turn to the likes of Watch and Gold after their tea when they want something cosy and familiar after a hard day at work.

Silly man.

[Si Hunt]

The most obvious point is that, amid a torrent of cheap reality telly and crap showbiz dross, Doctor Who with its 'adventure inside a dream' one week and space flying spitfires the next, is about the most imaginative, mind-expanding thing on telly.

So what on Earth's he picking on it for?!

Si.

[Perry Vale]

I refer the honourable gentleman to post #2...

[WhiteCrowNZ]

I guess he'll only be happy when the only TV is made on a shoestring?

[Martin Curnow]

I think the title to this thread should be, Who's Trevor Eve BBC wastes cash on, Doctor?