Yes, it's one of several recurring rumours that can filed under 'wishful thinking' rather than fact:

i.e. return to 25 minute episodes, a move of the production base to Manchester/London, Paul McGann, face in the opening credits, etc, etc.

The thing is, people over-hype X-Factor and assume it is mightier than it really is. It is a well known fact that often Strictly Come Dancing which is occassionally scheduled it does better and performs consistently high in the ratings. There is no reason why Merlin and Doctor Who could not both be scheduled on saturday nights as I believe it would provide a strong line up and give X-Factor a run for its money: For example:

5.45pm Merlin
6.30 Strictly Come Dancing
7.45 Doctor Who
8.30 In It To Win It
9.20 Casualty
10.10 News
10.30 Match of the Day

If they kept that exact schedule throughout the entire Autumn run I think BBC1 would trounce ITV especially as X factor usually follows a repeat of You've Been Framed. The only show to give the series a real credible threat is Harry Hill's TV Burp.

They best not do that i am a loyal fan to both The X Factor and Doctor Who and clashing them would be a big mistake, as i love both of them and i think you have under estimated The X Factor it has performed better than Strictly Come Dancing except for 2 times.

Er, X Factor beat Strictly every week bar none last year, so I hardly think that BBC1 would 'trounce' ITV with that schedule.

I highly doubt that this will happen, as they won't want it clashing with TXF, and they also won't want Doctor Who and Merlin on the same night for 6 weeks. I wouldn't be surprised to see Doctor Who moved to January-March, though.

I would not clash Doctor Who or The X Factor as they are both huge for there T.V channels and both pull in high ratings. So all the audiences will be puzzeled what to watch either WHO or X FACTOR. I would have to watch THE X FACTOR and WHO on I Player.

Given that they won't be starting by shooting a Xmas Special (it'll come at the end of the shoot and finally in something approaching Winter!) they should be able to start showing Series 5 in February rather than March.

but she would be 6 years younger now

this is my first post so be nice lol

Doctor will not start until the end of March at least. Six Nations runs from February to March and the BBC normally do not put on regular programmes or series' during that period as they would be prone to disruption. It is true that last year X Factor beat SCD in the ratings (but not by a huge amount) but in 2007 SCD regularly beat X Factor. It depends on who the celebrities are. You can not predict from one year to the next which show would come out on top and it would also depend on the strength of the programme leading into and coming out of each entertainment show. Whilst I suggested a schedule for Saturday nights, I do not believe that Doctor Who will be on in Autumn 2010. It is highly more likely that the series will return on Easter saturday 2010 and continue (with the exception of Eurovision Week) for 13 weeks continuously.

Even with BGT on, Doctor Who will perform well. One of the reasons why BGT performed well this year was because Primeval led into it and there was little else on offer on BBC1. Put something strong on BBC1 at the same time and BGT audience will be dented. Doctor Who will always achieve between 5.5 million and 8 million viewers.

Because it is the World Cup and big football matches constantly get the best TV ratings.

The split season idea (if it is happening) could also be driven by BBC spending limitations resulting from the licence fee freeze.

Perhaps the BBC is faced with a choice of making only one Saturday night family drama series next year, so they're going to stick with the one which pulls in the highest audiences for them. The split would ensure they have family drama on at sometime during the spring and autumn.

The ideal window for the spring run is between the end of The Six Nations Championship (Mar 20) and The FA CUP (May 29). On this basis, we could expect a seven episode run from Mar 27 to May 8.

The other six episodes could then run from Nov 11 to Dec 18, with the Xmas 2010 special following a week later.

As for The X Factor, Merlin did well against it last year, so surely Who (teamed up with Strictly Come Dancing) has a good chance of providing a popular alternative for those who don't want to watch Cowell's puppet show.

Can you really imagine the producers of the show would like their first series split into two? This would be suicide for the series and would also prevent massive worldwide DVd sales throughout the year if this happened. Also distributing it to other channels such as Watch would also prove difficult. Remember, it isn't just the boxed set that does well at Christmas, each individual DVD release does extremely well. There is no way that the BBC would risk annoying producers, distributors and the loyal audience. During last years Euro08 tournament, the series wasn't interrupted so it there is every reason to assume that the next series wont be interrupted by the World cup. Also the licence fee hasn't been freezed. It has just not been increased by the amount the BBC wanted.

I agree with you on all that. I don't actually think a split will happen. I was just speculating on why or how a split series could happen if the BBC chose to go down that route.

In 2006, the combination of Who and The World Cup worked quite well, so I don't see that as a problem.

Thanks also for the clarification on the licence fee situation. I stand corrected.

Cheers

No probs mate glad to be of service! So nice to be able to have a proper mature difference of opinion with folk and not a slanging match! I think I like you! I like your user name as well. That is something I WILL agree with you on!

I did think that when I read this thread.....I could be wrong, but didn't Doomsday air on the same day as the final match?????....and again I could be wrong....but I think both were highly rated shows of the day....

So Football shouldn't be an issue next year either......

well the previous episode , army of ghosts aired just after the match where england were knocked out by portugal
i'm not sure whether doomsday was one the same day a the final, i kinda lost interest in the world cup once england were eliminated.

I just checked on the Barb site....and this was Saturday's ratings when Doomsday aired....with a match an hour later, but not the final....that was on Sunday.....

DOCTOR WHO (SAT 1859) 8.22
WORLD CUP 2006: GER V POR (SAT 2000) 7.06

Even the final got about 13 million or so (however the England Match that you mentioned got 16 million).....I don't think the Beeb need to worry about Doctor Who...and can easily place it somewhere on a Saturday, even if there are Matches on that day...

I remember the Radio Times covers for Doomsday - it was one of the few iconic ones they've done of late. They had one cover with Daleks and one with Cybermen and had made it all footballish for the cup match.

EDIT: found em
http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/image...mes_13a_sm.jpg
http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/image...mes_13b_sm.jpg

Of course....yes I remember that.....

I can't believe I'm actually saying this out loud, but . . . I'd quite like Doctor Who to be on Sunday evenings at 7.30pm!

It would be lovely to have something good to end the weekend with, it would have NO competition at all, it's early enough that kids could still watch it AND it would be fresh in the memory and so become more of a talking point at work/school Monday morning.

*runs for cover

Er, hasn't Doctor Who always been on either Saturday or Monday (and Monday didn't work, in fact, it killed it, because it clashed with Coronation Street)? Saturday is it's traditional slot, the only time a new episode not starring Sylvester McCoy has been on a different day is the Xmas specials. Mulett, no-one's going to like a Sunday timeslot. Besides, isn't that Countryfile's slot these days?

Well admittedly people would be slightly dubious at having a slot other than saturday. But mulett has a point. Regardless of when it is on, the new format is so anticipated that people would watch it on a Sunday. I remember when The Generation Game was relaunched in 1990 and they scheduled it at 8pm on a Friday night. And, to top it all they put Casualty on at 9.30 after the news on Friday's as well. People thought "Oh my God, Gen Game and Casualty on a Friday. It'll never work." However, it did work. Both shows attracted huge audiences but, nevertheless the following year, both shows were back on a Saturday.

Sometimes changing the day can add to the anticipation and increase viweing figures. Would anyone not watch Doctor Who just because it is on Sunday? No, thought not!

For me, Doctor Who always worked better when it was broadcast in the autumn/winter. Maybe it was because I was much younger, but it seemed scarier when it was dark outside. To watch something like Blink in November would be much more atmospheric than in mid-May or June.

Although I don't want to wait too long for the next series, Autumn/Winter transmission might boost the ratings.

It's also been on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday during the Davison era

It was broadcast twice weekly, with the actual days different from season to season (Season 19 Mon/Tue, Season 20 Tue/Wed (mainly) and Season 21 Thu/Fri).

Whoops, didn't know that.