Sorry if this has already been asked or discussed before, but I was wondering why a channel like BBC Two or BBC4 doesn't air episodes of Classic Doctor Who. It seems like a daunting task for a newcomer such as myself to Classic Who to attempt to watch the original series, but this in part has to do with the fact that the serials are just to expensive to buy. £5-8 for a serial is decent I suppose but when you multiply that by the number of serials released/created, it does seem overwhelming.

It would be a lot simpler if the show was aired on TV that way one could watch the show easily, or is the fact that they want people to buy the DVDs that they dont air the show? Or is it something different altogether, such as something regarding rights etc?

I wouldn't mind, they're not even on netflix or lovefilm

I grew up with Classic Who (Tom Baker onwards anyway) but the first time I saw most of the stories since watching the original transmissions were when they used to show omnibus editions on GOLD at some unearthly hour on a Saturday night/Sunday morning. Sadly they haven't even bothered with that for several years.

Watch has been showing Classic Who at the weekends.
I watched part of The Aztecs last week.

I think that's more to do with a celebration series Watch is doing including documentaries.

Money. Money money money money, give it to meeeee!

i.e. greedy BBC

Reruns of the classic series on the BBC have never achieved the sort of ratings they would like. Doctor Who isn't the only pre-90's thing that is rarely if ever repeated, hardly anything is apart from sitcoms. Standard definition and 4:3 seem to count against older shows and if it's black and white chances of getting on air outside of a one-off special about a subject or period in TV history are just about nil.

Bbc 2 tried a rerun of the Pertwee era around 1999 but figures made them jump to Tom Baker's first Dalek story after 2 Pertwee's.

Thats how I got into who, sadly I was only about 5ish then so the storylines and plot are long forgotten. :sleep:

i've been giving this some thought recently and i've come to the conclusion that BBC Worldwide seems to treat Classic Who in a similar way to Disney and their older films(you have to ask yourself when was the last time something say like Lion King was on terrestrial TV)they see Classic Who as a commodity and if they show them on terrestrial tv they know that many(not all) will record them to DVR therefore they may not buy the DVD for a while if ever

its a case of Treat them mean,keep them keen

I think it's on a fair bit to be honest. Especially at the moment with Watch.

Mind you, I really, really miss the old BRAVO channel. That was my kind of place.

Thats a subscription channel which you pay to watch,therefore they are getting a revenue from it,im talking FTA terrestrial channels,New Who is on a lot,classic seems to be one or two episodes once in a blue moon

I'd love some classic who on FTA TV,even though i have everything on dvd , i't would be great to see some pertwee or baker omnibuses (perhaps on a saturday or sunday morning just like in the UK gold days )

I've just got so used to having a cable TV package that I've no idea what's FTA at the moment!

Virgin even bundled loads of old episodes in their on demand section.

Netflix has some of the later (20ish) series but only 6 episodes of each for some odd reason, and the movie.