Don't mince words, saladfingers. Say what you really mean.

Incidentally, and totally off topic, there are quite a few good episodes of TNG. I could PM you a list of recommended ones.


On second thought...

It's worth bearing in mind that back in 2011 Moffat had also seen the plan for late 2013 / 2014 (or so I'm told - his 2011 PR wasn't just his fevered imagination). He rather confidently boasted about it. None of it happened.

Not knocking Moffat here - there may well be a broad business plan. But as we've seen - all sorts of things can knock those off track. And as others have said - it's a bit vague. It's not "5 more series, one a year" or anything of the like. In fact it seems pretty clear now that year 1 of the 5 year plan involves not showing very much Doctor Who.

It's just nice to know the BBC don't have cancellation in mind and they have ambitions of some kind for it. What we actually get is another matter.

Never mind TNG. Someone told me there's an episode of Enterprise involving a small vessel or container found floating in space, they bring it on board and there's a bloke in it and ... the spaceship's bigger on the inside.

Any idea?

Ah, Future Tense.

From the writer:


Marvellous talk of Trek and Wars killing off Who. I look forward to it.

Thank you CD93.

Oh, and btw, I for one welcome you as our new Forum Overlord.

Hear hear!!

Also I can't see how some people who seem to think Who won't even last five more years can turn their noses up at this news. I appreciate that it's not worth THAT much since there's no guarantee of what Who we'll get in the next five years but it's hardly bad news is it?

Well, just get into the Tardis and set the destination for England in November 2020. Once you are there, step outside and you'll get your answer.

its not good news...

I am sure when I read the quote the other day it said 5 more years AT LEAST.

Well, yes - because imagine the uproar if he said "5 more years and that's your lot. The BBC are definitely cancelling it then." Moffat often talks about how the show can keep going forever (with maybe the odd rest here and there). The business plan referred to is specifically for the 5 year period and nothing else, but nothing about that implies it's stopping after that. They'll make another X year plan - unless the show has gone down the toilet and just gets dropped naturally.

If it continues to make the BBC £60m* each year in overseas sales, I can't imagine them getting rid of it. Better, I would think, to invest some time and money getting the viewing figures up again than conceding defeat.





* I took that sum from today's Mirror so it could be nonsense but it sounds good all the same.

Ironically, I think the thing that actually killed Star Trek is the same thing that bogged down classic Who, killed off the Doctor Who Movie as a pilot, and is a risk for the current series - endless continuity references and navel-gazing.

The best Star Trek episodes are classic sci-fi - examining aspects of human nature through the lens of fantasy. The original series was good at it. The Next Generation was sometimes good at it, and so on. By the time Enterprise came along, it was more interested in big arching plot storylines that no-one could keep track of.

I disagree. What killed off Star Trek was the same thing that killed Stargate and Doctor Who - apathy. After 17 years of continuous Trek series, it became difficult to excite the audience. Same for Who, same for Stargate. Shows need to be rested on occasion for the audience to build up a hunger for them again.

I'm not convinced it's audience apathy. More the burned out tiredness and apathy of the creative people involved as well as escalating on-screen talent costs. But US TV is a different kettle of fish from British TV.

There was definitely a burnout of the creatives which seemed to hit during Voyager. I'd argue this is currently happening with Doctor Who too. I remember watching an episode of Voyager and it was an almost scene-for-scene remake of an older TNG episode. But look at the latter episodes of Trek, Who and Stargate. Arguably they were some of the best episodes in years. Enterprise had a good final season, SG-Universe was doing something different from other Stargates and the last series of Classic Who, barring maybe Battlefield, was the best the show had been since the early 80s. But that didn't stop any of them from being cancelled because, no matter how good they were, they weren't new and shiny anymore. That's what I mean by apathy.

Dr Who has run out of steam and needs a break of at least 5 years I'd say.

How about a new version of Blake's Seven to take over the slot?