Hi all,

Was just reading the news about Who not being at comic-con this year where it has been confirmed that series 8 will only have a 12 episode run, instead of the normal 13.

Anyone know of/care to speculate why this might be?

Day of The Doctor.

I would have thought that the 50th would have been given a seperate budget, also would have saved in production by spreading series 7 over 2 years?

WE WAS ROBBED!!

Just kidding. In all seriousness though it does feel a little strange to officially be the only series with 12 episodes , and maybe like their was a lack of budget or something, but 12 episodes in a row is certainly better than 5 or 8 like the last two years

It's not that big a deal, I do hope that we get a series every year though

Maybe the 13th is the Christmas special?

Well it is, but that's still one down as it's usually 13 plus the christmas special (giving a total of 14)

Reading the DS article, it seems it was a BBC America "source" who said that, so I'm assuming a mistake was made or the "source" misspoke. I'm pretty sure Moffat already confirmed it'd be 13 eps + Christmas 2014 a while ago,

it's being reported on the other threads that episode 1 is feature length, so that makes up at least some of the run time of a lost ep (or perhaps all of it, depending on exactly what is meant by feature length)

Until recently it hadn't actually been officially confirmed anywhere, though the recent issue of DWM seems to confirm that the final two episodes of this series number as 11 and 12, are both written by Moffat and are both directed by the same woman

There was leaked documentation suggesting as such way back in 2013 though it fell under the radar as the same documents also contained information about Matt Smith's departure from the show. Out of nowhere, his departure was officially announced by the BBC the following day, which kind of lends credibility to the documents in question.

The filming schedule has also been significantly shorter for this series, despite the fact there was such a vast amount of time from last year that went unused. But they couldn't start filming with a new Doctor until he could be officially announced.

To be honest, 12 episodes will likely work out a lot more tidily than 13 does. 13 is a tried, tested and typical British series length, I think because it equates to exactly a quarter of a year for a show that airs once a week. It means the BBC are able to manage their budgets and their schedules quarterly, and it saves them a lot of time and effort to do so rather than having to commission lots of one-off dramas to fill the voids in between. It will also lighten the load on the Doctor Who cast and crew who often struggle around the 12/13 episode production mark - it's how we ended up getting Doctor-lite stories way back at Series 2, simply to alleviate the load from the actors.
But with the rise of on-demand viewing, other internet distractions and the fact that 'event TV' is still 'event TV' when viewed online, I think the 13-episode model is a bit outdated, especially for a show like Doctor Who. On demand has also meant that the Beeb can get away with filling the schedules with movies like Harry Potter and Shrek on Saturday evenings a lot, as people are less inclined to notice and less demanding of new content each and every week.

12 episodes for Doctor Who is fine. It's the most consecutive episodes we'll have had in over four years, and maybe the time and effort spared will mean the budget is better distributed and the writing is a little more tight. What will be interesting to see is whether the Christmas specials will now be a part of the series before it (as opposed to preceding the series that lies ahead), or whether like Series 1 and Series 5, we'll again have a series without a Christmas special.

Twelve episodes all in a row?

As Ep1 is described as feature length (which IMO means well over an hour at least) we may not have lost too many minutes of DW even with only 12 episodes.

We lose an episode but hopefully gain some consistent production again.

Indeed, no breaks or hiatus's or anything...a complete run, just like Series 1-5


Yes... it already seems to have been stated off-the-record that Series 9 will air consistently next year as well, presumably also with 12 episodes. And with Moffat's recent comments about coming up with a penultimate episode cliffhanger for Series 9, we can conclude two-part finales are back to stay also.

Now, that will be something to ponder upon.

I suspect the reduction is for budgetary and time reasons and frankly gives them a better shot of keeping their main cast for longer. The production is tiring enough as it is. That's one of the reasons why I suspect they're not going to SDCC. That and I presume they don't want the thunder stolen from their own special event!

Is there going to be a Doctor Who at the Proms this year? Or are the cast and crew too tied up in filming for the forthcoming series in August?

Also, is there going to be a DVD release of last years DW Proms concert? I really would like to see it, but unfortunately, I cannot, as it doesn't seem to be anywhere online for me to view.

It's not listed on my Sky+ TV Guide anywhere in the next week, either.

Harry Potter is on ITV, not the BBC.
Nope, it's Cbeebies instead.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/proms/whats-on/2014/july-25

The 13th episode is in the Maghull lock up, obviously.

I liked the Dr lite episodes. Midnight to give Donna a break and turn left to give Tennant a break were classics. Blink is the best of the new doctor who. I even enjoyed love and monsters despite peter kay. I think 'Linda' deserves their own spin off series. We can find out what happened to them before they were absorbed by the...abzorbaloff. Tiggerpooh if you pm me an address I will post you a dvd+r of the off air copy I made myself of last years proms.

We need to get Ian Levine to shout "F***ING HOARDERS!" repeatedly until it's released.

I know, I was just using examples of how it isn't uncommon for the broadcasters to put on movies on Saturday evenings now to fill the schedules. Once upon the time, Saturday evening was always the night to debut new content be it a new family drama (ie. Doctor Who, Primeval) or a new game show (ie. New series of X Factor, Splash etc.). It's always been regarded as a ratings-puller but with the rise of on-demand viewing the significance of Saturday night TV is a little diminshed. Having a 13 part series to perfectly make up a quarter of annual Saturday schedules doesn't matter so much any more when they can save money and put out twelve episodes, and just put Shrek or something on in the thirteenth week.

If it improves the show as well I'm all for it. Spread the budget out across one fewer episode, makes production less tiresome so we get a more consistent series transmission etc.

I'm sure it will be the usual 13 and Christmas special. Why be annoying and have 12. Just stupid.

If it is 12 then that's fine as long as it's 12 in a row and not split like most recent years which IMO was not good and hopefully 2 part finales are also back.

It isn't.