Doctor Who Confidential

[Logo Polish]

Yes, after six years, the BBC has announced that it's cancelling Doctor Who...













... Confidential.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011...fidential-axed

[Rob McCow]

OK, this is a shame, but on the other hand the show was getting a bit desperate.

Then again, why cut 45 minutes of what must be an incredibly cheap show to make?

[Richard Brinck-Johnsen]

I've just started a similar thread in "Adventures in Time and Space" forum. Can these be merged please?

http://www.planetskaro.org.uk/forums...ead.php?t=6720

[Rob McCow]

Reports have begun appearing on various parts of the internet that Doctor Who's behind-the-scenes companion show Doctor Who Confidential, which has accompanied every single episode of Doctor Who since 2005 has been axed in the latest round of BBC cost-cutting.
A final edition of the programme will accompany the Christmas Special in December 2011.

More details can be found on the Doctor Who News Page on the following link:
Doctor Who Confidential to be cancelled

From Richard's Thread

[Darren]

Hmmmm there's precious little to watch on BBC3 as it is. The channel will probably be taken off eventually.

[Richard Brinck-Johnsen]

Thanks Steve.

I agree that some of the editions this year in particular have seemed like unnecessary filler but then why not just cut back to 30 minutes which is what the first series was?
Trouble is this is symptomatic of the whole budget cut situation that our current government has inflicted upon the BBC. I can think of plenty of other BBC3 programmes which wouldn't be missed but I suspect the channel itself may be in danger which is a shame as they've consistantly championed innovative commissions over the years.

[Lissa]

Confidential always felt like a luxury DVD extra that was too long to be put on the DVDs. The cut-down versions were on disc but they were 1/3 of the full length and therefore a rubbish compromise. I've always thought a 2 hour "making of" that covers the whole season would be a much better use of time and money because they'd be able to focus on the interesting stuff rather than padding out week after week of self congratulation. Hopefully they'll shift their resources around and still capture the interesting stuff and make the DVD boxed set extras worth watching.

[Anthony Williams]

I don't think I've actually watched Confidential since 2006, so I won't miss it at all!

[duncan]

I haven't enjoyed Confidential since series 4 to be honest. the current series has been my least favourite. I always found it a useful programme as it reassured my daughter that there really wouldn't be any monsters in her wardrobe when she went to bed.

[Philipnet]

I found Confidential quite useful in filling in some of the gaps in the show - for things I didn't notice the first time around.

For instance the colours of the new Daleks and that each colour has a specific function and confirming that River Song kills the Doctor.

[SiHart]

Shame. Although it's been less than vital this year, it's part of the whole package since 2005 and I'll miss it next year.

Now they'll never interview Barbara Kidd

[Dirk Gently]

That's just rotten. I enjoy these & always turn over to see them. It's become part of my Doctor Who experience.

I only missed 1 this year, but it wasn't my house so it wasn't my place to say otherwise.

[Awesome Wells]

It's sad news for the people who work on it, and I guess many viewers are going to miss it, but I've never been a fan. Confidential's transmission immediately after the episode was always irksome (I think, for younger viewers, it's a bit soon to be ruining the illusion, destroying the magic, etc, kicking off just as the end credits are rolling) and it has become ridiculously long, grotesquely padded (and thus expensive; those musical montages are cheap to make ... except for the fortune it costs for the rights to the music) and overly self-congratulatory and self-referential. I won't miss it; I won't even miss the concept of the cheapo Confidential Cutdown. It'll just be one less homegrown BBC3 programme not to watch.

[Richard Brinck-Johnsen]

I'm quite impressed that Doctor Who Confidential is now trending on twitter!

Like I said I agree the most recent series has been a bit lacking but I loved the editions that followed the two parts of The End of Time, especially getting to see DT's farewell speech at his golden wrap.

[Si Hunt]

Thank God!

Dreadful programme which cheapened Doctor Who and made fools out of the lead actors. I remember one episode which started with Matt, Karen and Arthur rambling on about how they brushed their teeth. Perhaps now the stars of Doctor Who can retain some mystery... and dignity!

Si.

[Zbigniev Hamson]

Having never watched an episode of this ever, I am truly devastated I have to say :'(

[Andrew Curnow]

Must admit, I've only watched it once since it came back after the Summer. Stupid as it sounds, it's the sort of thing that will be much more fascinating in 20 or 30 years time - imagine how excited we'd be now, to see Bob Holmes talking about Sontarans, or David Maloney showing Liz Sladen how to climb up scaffolding. At the moment, most of it seems so pedestrian and trivial (five minutes of Saturday's show seemed to be the location manager trying to identify who owned the car he wanted to move) but in years to come it'll have a little more "of that time" magic to it.

IMHO, of course. And I'm not suggesting the BBC should make shows but hold onto them for 20 years.

[Nyder]

I have to agree with Colin Baker (me & him aren't bezzy mates - I just read his Twitter comment!) when he questioned showing DWC RIGHT after the main show itself, thus slightly tarnishing the magic. Having said that, I always used to watch it a day or two after DW and found most of it fascinating. Although some bits did get a bit silly and was obviously used to pad the prog out to 45 minutes.

[Rob McCow]

They'll have to actually make an effort for the DVD / Bluray releases now. Meep!

[Anthony Williams]

They'll have to actually make an effort for the DVD / Bluray releases now. Meep!

I doubt it. We'll just get less content for the same price.

Not that I'm a pessimist or anything.

[Richard Brinck-Johnsen]

I doubt it. We'll just get less content for the same price.

Not that I'm a pessimist or anything.

Sadly I fear you're right. The team working on the new series don't seem to be working to anything like the same quality remit as their colleagues who do the classic series releases but that's for another thread.

I am getting a little fed up with some of the nonsense on twitter now. With all due kudos to those organizing petitions and so forth I don't think the BBC are going to reverse this decision and quite frankly I'm coming round to the view point that maybe it's time for a change.
Folks may recall that we lost Totally Doctor Who after two years and the world didn't end. Four years later Doctor Who itself is very much in rude health and I'm sure we'll still get some kind of special extra programmes around the time of the Golden Anniversary and probably when the time eventually comes for the Eleventh Regeneration.

[Awesome Wells]

Erm ... Totally Doctor what?

[Awesome Wells]

Just Googled it. I honestly never even knew such a show existed.

[Richard Brinck-Johnsen]

Just Googled it. I honestly never even knew such a show existed.

You really didn't miss much. Some of the second series episodes that accompanied New Who Series 3 in 2007 in particular were genuinely cringe-worthy.

[Si Hunt]

But the reputation of Doctor Who fans, and by association the show itself, is reasonably respectable in the eyes of the media right now. Let's have a return to the good old days of the mid eighties where we all turn into fanatical, obsessive, hating bastards who organise campaigns and picket lines and annoy the people actually making our show.

If the editor of the official magazine could start a row with one of the major newspapers TV editors, that would help too.

Let's go!

Si.