I am really hoping for a return to the format we saw in Series 6. I am entirely doubtful we'll get an uninterrupted run of 13 episodes for Series 8, but wouldn't mind some episodes earlier in the year and then some later in the year.
If there's another gap through to near the end of 2014, I won't be entirely satisfied. That's not a sense of entitlement, that's just how I feel about it. I am happy to excuse the delays to Series 7 as it has had to take the 50th Anniversary into consideration as well but Series 8 will be free of that really. An April or May start for Series 8A would be my preferred course of direction.
That would be my ideal too...I thought the Series 6 scheduling worked fine. I suspect Autumn 2014 is more likely, though.
I'm also waiting for 100% definite official BBC confirmation that Matt's in Series 8...maybe he's not sure about filming plans beyond the Christmas special cos he wont be about?!
Probably because there's no definitive answer from the BBC and Moffat yet over when they're airing it nor when it'll be ready to start filming.
As far we know Moffat is writing the Christmas special and planning series 8 right now. He didn't start on the Christmas special until after the 50th was done. Obviously he's got to finish Christmas first. So it depends how quickly he and whoever he chooses can get the episodes written and pre-production completed and sounds like he's said to Matt that it could be the end of this year or might have to be the start of next.
I was really thinking more about the relationship with the BBC and the BBC1 Controllers expectations of product delivery...the wiggle room around late 2013/early 2014 would surely be too problematic for a Spring/Summer season so would perhaps indicate that the essential intention is for an Autumn start....unless Moffat really does have a relationship with the beeb where he effectively says "It'll be ready when it's ready" and the controller goes away downcast to schedule more "Animals Do the Funniest Things" and look hopefully at his inbox.
I was really thinking more about the relationship with the BBC and the BBC1 Controllers expectations of product delivery...the wiggle room around late 2013/early 2014 would surely be too problematic for a Spring/Summer season so would perhaps indicate that the essential intention is for an Autumn start....unless Moffat really does have a relationship with the beeb where he effectively says "It'll be ready when it's ready" and the controller goes away downcast to schedule more "Animals Do the Funniest Things" and look hopefully at his inbox.
I suspect it's more, he's working on it as fast as he can but can't guarantee they'll be ready in time. I would assume he'd be able to give them a definitive idea soon and the BBC are flexible enough to give him that leeway.
I wonder what our friends across the pond think about having a split season when they are so used to having a 26 episodes a season.
With such an emergence of doctor who in the states now and the money it must bring to the bbc in sales etc then surely the beeb wouldn't want to rock the boat too much by long delays and split seasons or maybe I might be wrong and America Is just glad to get what ever they can get and or is there any pressure from the bbc arm in America to keep the episodes coming?
So series seven and the anniversary year specials (16 episodes) took him some of 2011, all of 2012 and nearly half of 2013 to write/edit? He hasn't done any work on series 8 despite outlining ideas for it to Matt in November 2012?
If that's the case then it is no wonder they can't do a normal series per year. Not if 16 episodes takes two years of writing/editing effort. (minus Sherlock time and holidays)
But of course we don't really know the full reasons. Maybe the BBC prevented him working on it. Or a bit of both.
But of course we don't really know the full reasons.
QFT, that's probably the only thing we can be certain of Roll on 2030 and publication of "The Deerstalker and the Fez: What really happened in the Moffat years".
I wonder what our friends across the pond think about having a split season when they are so used to having a 26 episodes a season.
With such an emergence of doctor who in the states now and the money it must bring to the bbc in sales etc then surely the beeb wouldn't want to rock the boat too much by long delays and split seasons or maybe I might be wrong and America Is just glad to get what ever they can get and or is there any pressure from the bbc arm in America to keep the episodes coming?
American productions seem to be smaller these days as well though. Game of Thrones is 10 episodes a year, Homeland is 12, even the new series of 24 will be 12 episodes as well.
I wouldn't even mind if they ignored 2014 completely and gave us a full 13 episode run in 2015, but I suppose we'll just have to put up with the fact that the BBC can't be bothered giving us 13 episodes per year any more (for whatever reason)
This option gets my vote as well. Either a 13 episode run every two years, or smaller series of 7 episodes each year. I don't personally mind either I just wish they would stop splitting the series.
Come to think of it has anyone actually confirmed how many episodes will be in series 8 yet? Or are they leaving that for Moffat to decide as well?
The thing is you really need a natural break in the series if they are going to split it up. this year the end of Amy and Rory worked with a break before Clara was properly introduced (even if it was sneaky putting her in Asylum). With the same Doctor and the same companion there either they just suddenly 'go away' or there's a storyline which leads to them being able to stop and then come back later...sounds stupid but I'm still a bit 'WTF but wow!' about yesterday:D
If filming for Series 8 starts directly after the Christmas special, there's a chance we could get a full 13 episode run in autumn 2014. Weird that there's so much ambiguity about when it starts filming though.
For me personally, this is what I'm hoping for and i think (hope?) is most likely to happen
And RTD-era DW got round this by having "Doctor-lite" ep once a year where the Doctor barely appeared. If they wanted to free up some time for the lead actor, no
reason why they couldn't try the "Doc-lite" idea
again....
... or go ahead, film it without him and use a body double with a green face mask, then 'CGI/edit' MS's face in later. If planned with very few close-ups it might just work. They probably already have lots of footage of him making standard facial expressions. He could dub the dialogue for a story in a couple of hours wherever he is in the world.
Maybe a story could be set where The Doctor is losing his corporeal robustness to, say, another time or dimension, which would explain why he sometimes looks slightly ghostly or with ragged pixels. Then fill in when Matt is available.
Maybe the next regeneration should move not to a real actor but be a CGI creation!
This option gets my vote as well. Either a 13 episode run every two years, or smaller series of 7 episodes each year. I don't personally mind either I just wish they would stop splitting the series.
Come to think of it has anyone actually confirmed how many episodes will be in series 8 yet? Or are they leaving that for Moffat to decide as well?
Today Tom Spilsbury , editor of DWM, resorted to asking the BBC via Twitter how many episodes. So it seems still a secret.
Today Tom Spilsbury , editor of DWM, resorted to asking the BBC via Twitter how many episodes. So it seems still a secret.
Ah you see. The detail is always in the fine print. I am wise to the BBC PR departments slippery tricks now. I find it leads to less disappointment later on if I take nothing for granted
I think I'd be happy with 7 episodes in spring, 6 episodes in autumn, 1 at Christmas as a typical annual ouput - perhaps with a clear planned 'fallow year' every fourth or fifth year, with maybe an Easter special to keep us ticking over. I hope it's a not a long wait from Christmas 2013 to Autumn 2014, but it may be
Ah you see. The detail is always in the fine print. I am wise to the BBC PR departments slippery tricks now. I find it leads to less disappointment later on if I take nothing for granted
Do we actually have confirmation of Matt's involvement? The release from last night on the beeb site just mentions Moffat working on series 8, is The Sun interview the only basis for believing Matt is staying?
I don't expect the BBC will reveal any scheduling details until filming is well underway and they have some idea of how much material they will actually have ready for 2014. There's no point in announcing an uninterrupted 13-week run now and then be accused of dishonesty if/when things fall behind schedule.
Do we actually have confirmation of Matt's involvement? The release from last night on the beeb site just mentions Moffat working on series 8, is The Sun interview the only basis for believing Matt is staying?
Is this the same Sun who said he was leaving a few weeks ago?
Hmm, I guess if I don't believe the Sun when they say he's leaving then I shouldn't believe them when they say he's staying either
QFT, that's probably the only thing we can be certain of Roll on 2030 and publication of "The Deerstalker and the Fez: What really happened in the Moffat years".
Jenna said they're due to start filming for Christmas in September and that was arranged to encompass Matt's filming schedule. Presumably also gives him time to have an actual break and grow his hair back!
Merlin, which is a comparable show in terms of production, always started filming in March for a September start and they were still in production when it started airing. Therefore it seems impossible for them to film from September onwards and start a full 13 ep run at Easter.
Matt said he didn't know if they were filming straight after the Christmas special or starting in January. Sounds very much like they're still finalising all that. After all, sounds like Moffat is still putting the ideas and stories together and so they may not be ready to film the series in September. I'm thinking either they'll do a short run at Easter again with the rest of the series in the Autumn or they'll leave the whole lot until the Autumn.
Only problem with that is they've already commissioned Atlantis for that slot and if it turns out to be a success they may have a bit of a fight on their hands!
If they start filming in September that means it would probably around April 2014 when filming wraps up. (since it took seven months work on Season 7)
Matt Smith said he wasn't sure if filming began for S8 at the end of this year or beginning of next. With that in mind I am anticipating a similar run to what S7 was. Half in the Autumn in 2014 with the rest Spring 2015.
What if they want to do Autum to spring every year now?
Meaning 2014 autumn part 8A...
2015 Spring 8B
2015 autumn 9A
2016 Spring 9B?
Would people be happy with that?
I wouldn't. Going by some of Moffat's past statements, I can only conclude that this type of split was done solely to accomodate the 50th anniversary year. Hopefully, will never be seeing a 6 month split again. A shorter one within the same calendar year like with series 6, perhaps.
Comments
That would be my ideal too...I thought the Series 6 scheduling worked fine. I suspect Autumn 2014 is more likely, though.
I'm also waiting for 100% definite official BBC confirmation that Matt's in Series 8...maybe he's not sure about filming plans beyond the Christmas special cos he wont be about?!
Flipping hope he is, mind. The guy's brilliant.
I was really thinking more about the relationship with the BBC and the BBC1 Controllers expectations of product delivery...the wiggle room around late 2013/early 2014 would surely be too problematic for a Spring/Summer season so would perhaps indicate that the essential intention is for an Autumn start....unless Moffat really does have a relationship with the beeb where he effectively says "It'll be ready when it's ready" and the controller goes away downcast to schedule more "Animals Do the Funniest Things" and look hopefully at his inbox.
I suspect it's more, he's working on it as fast as he can but can't guarantee they'll be ready in time. I would assume he'd be able to give them a definitive idea soon and the BBC are flexible enough to give him that leeway.
With such an emergence of doctor who in the states now and the money it must bring to the bbc in sales etc then surely the beeb wouldn't want to rock the boat too much by long delays and split seasons or maybe I might be wrong and America Is just glad to get what ever they can get and or is there any pressure from the bbc arm in America to keep the episodes coming?
If that's the case then it is no wonder they can't do a normal series per year. Not if 16 episodes takes two years of writing/editing effort. (minus Sherlock time and holidays)
But of course we don't really know the full reasons. Maybe the BBC prevented him working on it. Or a bit of both.
QFT, that's probably the only thing we can be certain of
American productions seem to be smaller these days as well though. Game of Thrones is 10 episodes a year, Homeland is 12, even the new series of 24 will be 12 episodes as well.
This option gets my vote as well. Either a 13 episode run every two years, or smaller series of 7 episodes each year. I don't personally mind either I just wish they would stop splitting the series.
Come to think of it has anyone actually confirmed how many episodes will be in series 8 yet? Or are they leaving that for Moffat to decide as well?
For me personally, this is what I'm hoping for and i think (hope?) is most likely to happen
... or go ahead, film it without him and use a body double with a green face mask, then 'CGI/edit' MS's face in later. If planned with very few close-ups it might just work. They probably already have lots of footage of him making standard facial expressions. He could dub the dialogue for a story in a couple of hours wherever he is in the world.
Maybe a story could be set where The Doctor is losing his corporeal robustness to, say, another time or dimension, which would explain why he sometimes looks slightly ghostly or with ragged pixels. Then fill in when Matt is available.
Maybe the next regeneration should move not to a real actor but be a CGI creation!
Today Tom Spilsbury , editor of DWM, resorted to asking the BBC via Twitter how many episodes. So it seems still a secret.
Ah you see. The detail is always in the fine print. I am wise to the BBC PR departments slippery tricks now. I find it leads to less disappointment later on if I take nothing for granted
Do we actually have confirmation of Matt's involvement? The release from last night on the beeb site just mentions Moffat working on series 8, is The Sun interview the only basis for believing Matt is staying?
Is this the same Sun who said he was leaving a few weeks ago?
Hmm, I guess if I don't believe the Sun when they say he's leaving then I shouldn't believe them when they say he's staying either
Damn I want to read that
If they start filming in September that means it would probably around April 2014 when filming wraps up. (since it took seven months work on Season 7)
Hmmm so the official response from the BBC seems to be "We can't confirm scheduling details at this stage but we'll keep you posted."
Fair enough if they can't confirm when it will be on but you would have though they would at least know how many episodes they've commissioned.
That's spreading it much too thin!!!
Definitely. I'm fairly certain all of series 8 will air in 2014.
Meaning 2014 autumn part 8A...
2015 Spring 8B
2015 autumn 9A
2016 Spring 9B?
Would people be happy with that?
I wouldn't. Going by some of Moffat's past statements, I can only conclude that this type of split was done solely to accomodate the 50th anniversary year. Hopefully, will never be seeing a 6 month split again. A shorter one within the same calendar year like with series 6, perhaps.