From BBC News website:


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Fry said: "The only drama the BBC will boast about are Merlin and Doctor Who, which are fine but they're children's programmes. They're not for adults.

"And they're very good children's programmes, don't get me wrong, they're wonderfully written... but they are not for adults.

"They are like a chicken nugget. Every now and again we all like it. Every now and again."

He added: "If you are an adult you want something surprising, savoury, sharp, unusual, cosmopolitan, alien, challenging, complex, ambiguous, possibly even slightly disturbing and wrong," he said.

"You want to try those things, because that's what being adult means.

"It's children's television, it's entirely infantilised. It's not grown up."

Fry praised US TV, which he said provided "surprise and shock and adulthood".

He also said BBC's comedy shows such as Gavin and Stacey and Little Britain were "very successful", also "unbelievably Balkanised".

"They are set into a particular demographic. This is what I mean by television not being the nation's fireplace. It's just all parcelled and I don't know that there's a solution to it," he added.
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Discuss!

Broadcaster Stephen Fry has criticised British TV saying it is "shocking" how "infantilised" adult programmes have become.

"I'm not saying TV should be pompous and academic, but it should surprise and astonish," he said.

The QI host said BBC shows Merlin and Doctor Who, were "wonderfully written" but "not for adults".


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertain...s/10326761.stm

So glad he said this, I made a comment recently about it being 'dumbed down'. I'm not saying it should be complex science and drama but it's a bit too childish. (I'm 14 by the way, I feel as if it's being made for 6 year olds).

Doctor Who is not being dumbed down - and that's not what stephen fry is saying. It's a children's program/family show and there's nothing wrong with that.

However sometimes it feels more like a kids show rather than a family show. You couldn't compare Doctor Who to the adult style of Lost and Heroes (when they were successful).

And nor should we. The whole point of Doctor Who is that it isn't like the likes of Lost, Heroes, Star Trek, B5, Battlestar Galactica etc........

Is this going to descend into a RTD vs. Moff onslaught? If so, I'll get my shot in first. I think Moff's first series has been infinitely less 'childish' than some of RTD's offerings.

Since when? Hasn't it always felt that way, if that's the way you feel?

Why should we do that? If I want to watch an adult show in the style of lost or heroes I will go and watch lost or heroes. Anyway, neither of those shows are as grown up as they think they are, or should be taken as seriously as they think they should - if I want legitimate adult pleasures I'll head to Godard, Ozu or Bergman. At least the makers of Doctor Who are aware they are making lightweight entertainment.

I think what Mr Fry is getting at is that 'we', the British don't make enough decent adult drama and the Beeb shouldn't just rely on the Doc and Merlin to say, 'Look, we make this!'
It's a valid point, there isn't enough so-called adult drama around in the UK and certainly nothing with the ambition or scope of Lost etc but that's our culture - if you want home-grown drama it comes in six-part chunks that never expands character and that's yer lot. Otherwise get thee to the US.... Don't think he has anything against the Doc, he is a sometime fan after all and has long been mooted to write an episode....

Stephen Fry needs to get over himself and not be a pompous prat.

DW is for children and adults of all ages and is perfect for a Saturday evening. If he doesn't like it, he can watch recordings of x-factor auditions instead for his intellectual stimulation.

Its a bloody kids programme.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertain...s/10326761.stm

well done Mr Fry. yes it is stating the bloodyobvious, but that series is designed for children. Adults thinking it was for them, the way they go on about it, are just arrested development cases.

It's for everyone, it's the wonderful thing about Doctor Who, it's one of the few shows that everyone can enjoy. All right, sure, sometimes some episodes are more childish and some are more adult, it's variety. Series 1 and 2 had quite of things for children and adults. 3 and 4 I think were largely more childish. Series 5 definitely more adult.
Maybe he should watch Torchwood.

Yay for Merlin getting name checked. But you know it's my belief that children won't understand some of the complicated storylines in Doctor Who anyway.

I'd just like to say that if Stephen Fry is pompous then we could do with a lot more of that please.

Anyway he's not criticising Doctor Who but I agree with him the the BBC should make more adult drama. I'd also like to see the target age for Who raised to something more like 14, but thats a different argument

Ah, who cares what that pompous, self-promoting tw*t says? Bloody nuisance.

Oh great. But who really cares what he says? Oh right, because hes been made out to seem smart. Woot! Is it a new trend to have a go at Doctor Who? Pratchett did it, then Fry. But Pratchett said it had some bad qualities but he enjoys it. Fry just says its 'childish'. Because chldren are going to watch a show COMPLETELY based around entertaining adults aren't they? Its got elements for kids and elements for adults in it as well. The waters of mars, midnight and turn left are examples of this. (All three from the mighty RTD, who i am a fan of. Yep, in your face Anti-RTD-ers! ). But who cares what he says anyway? When he made a scifi how long did it last? Didn't he make that show called 'paradox'? Because that's been running for 50 years hasn't it?

So neh! Take that Stephan Fry. You suck!

Will you be defending your post once it's moved to the Dr Who forum?

You might want to read the article. I love Doctor Who, otherwise I wouldn't be here, but because it's fun and light and doesn't require too much thought. I don't want all my television watching to be like that.

I like sweets, but couldn't live on them.

Coming from the host of the purile 'QI' I think it is a bit rich for Fry to make those coments. QI is one of the most infantilised shows on television, sure its primarily a light weight comedy show but it still makes me cringe at times.

The difference between Doctor Who and QI is that Doctor Who is aimed at a family audience and that audience clearly includes children, whereas QI is supposedly aimed at intelligent adults, which makes me wonder just why QI is so childish at times.

He isn't criticising Doctor Who!
In fact he often tweets about how much he enjoy's it, he's just speaking about the BBC's output in general

Hang on a minute, I'm surely missing something here that or you have taken out of context. What Fry actually said was Doctor Who was aimed at children but adults do like it every so often.
As said:
"They are like a chicken nugget. Every now and again we all like it. Every now and again."
Which is exactly true, Doctor Who has never been aimed at adults like US tv shows are. Little Britain, an example he used was never aimed at children, why? because they aren't family shows. Anything aimed at adults isn't really family friendly. Doctor Who since it creation has been family friendly and therefore will also be aimed at children.
If anything, Fry isn't attacking Doctor Who (although people will assume this to get a headline), he's attacking the lack of original British adult shows in this country seeing most of it is imported from the USA.

I rather liked his comparison with a chicken nugget. Lets hope it doesn't get overused like the Marmite ones.

Waits for the thread to get moved to Food and Drink forum.

Who listens to that pompous twit anyway? It's a family show. Families include kids.

He's entitled to his opinion, That doesn't make his opinion any more valid than that of the millions of adults who enjoy the show.

He is an idiot. It isn't a kids programme but is family viewing!