http://www.theguardian.com/media/201...-peter-capaldi

Says Capaldi and his showrunner Moffat.

Well at least we know we have Capaldi for at least 1 more season, which we pretty much thought anyway.

I think a few things have affected the overnights and one of them is the later time slot, families who watch the show with their kids may not watch it as the younger kids may need to be in bed by 9pm.

The other reasons the overnights are falling are the usual suspects - people's viewing habits are changing to catch up services, rather than live TV and also the Rugby World Cup didn't help - 2 episodes were on when England were playing... Also the fan girls who just fancy David or Matt might not be watching now we have an older doctor! But who needs those fans anyway

It's just been revealed a couple of hours ago that Steven Moffat has signed up for 13 more episodes. That includes another Christmas Special. He also says that he is certain that Peter Capaldi is going to be doing another full series, before the DW team go off to discuss his future with the show.

So it looks as though recent articles mentioning a reduced run next year, were wrong.

Full article here:

http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/doctor-...more-episodes/

also
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-34750117

Sounds to me like series 10 will be split into 2. 6 episodes plus Xmas special next year and 6 the following year.

Unless they really hurry up with the pre-production and they're a lot further ahead than they sound then there won't be a full series next year. Either it will be split either side of Christmas or it'll start in Jan 2017.

As far as scheduling...sorry, I don't agree with them at all. It's not a pawn. It's where Moffat wanted it. He's not a stupid man, he knew what time of night it would be on if it moved to Autumn, he knew the restrictions with SCD because they've been that way for years. He still wanted it moved to Autumn. Merlin used to do very well in that slot. Series 8 of Doctor Who did well in that slot (the late episodes last year didn't have a sudden drop off in figures in comparison to the earlier ones). Blaming the time slot is the easy way out tbh.

We have known for a while doctor who is being used as a pawn by the bbc so not new news. I don't care anymore myself as I have better things to do on a Saturday so will continue to record and watch on a Sunday if i don't get the chance to watch live. The BBC used to be so much better than this.

I don't think we'll be getting any who in 2016 prior to the Christmas special -i cant see the point in a split series especially seeing that Moffat,gatiss and capaldi have had a moan at the start times this year,if we had a split series we would have to put up with 8pm or later starts for half a series

Full page in The Mirror with a Capaldi interview.

I particularly like Capaldi's "the joy outweighs the restrictions." Especially considering The Mirror has been casting his replacement every other week.

It certainly is.

They seem to shift the broadcast time on a weekly basis which is odd for a big channel during primetime Saturday night.

An earlier timeslot and back to Spring is what the show needs. Moffat knows it and I bet so do the BBC.

Agreed.

I can't see the sense in putting it up against the X-Factor; plus, if it was on in the Spring, the Christmas special would have a better sense of anticipation.

Putting it on late in the year means the Christmas special just feels like part of the regular series.

Oh please ... it's a broken record now.

Do you really think a showrunner on one particular programme has control over other programmes being produced by the same company or corporation in the case of the BBC ?

Moffat doesn't control the scheduling of programmes no matter how many times you stamp your feet and claim he does. Nor does he control how long other programmes like Strictly Come Dancing are going to run. There was nothing stopping the BBC scheduling Strictly and Doctor Who the other way around. What is more likely is that because of some of the adult content in some of the stories this season that the BBC felt it had to schedule Doctor Who after Strictly. That didn't of course mean that Moffat deliberately made it that way. It meant that someone else made the decision that the content dictated the later time.

There has also been the small matter of the Rugby World Cup scheduled against Doctor Who for much of the 8 episodes so far and also the X Factor which because it's got to the live shows now will be a much harder beast to tame in the ratings. BUT the overall viewing figures are not an issue when delayed recordings are taken into account.

What would people rather have ? A programme with responsible scheduling and content or the fiasco of the complaints about ITV's Jekyll and Hyde for example ?

The issue about scheduling is as much about how long Strictly is on for (and it's start time) as much as it is about Doctor Who imho.

No matter how many times people grumble that it's all Moffat's fault it doesn't necessarily make it true. It seems on here at least that it's a core few that keep repeating the same old BS.

How many times have we now heard differing versions from the same people on here ? No full series in 2016, only part of a series, a year of specials etc etc. Sometimes people just have to trust in what's really going on and stop attempting to speculate on stuff they have no idea about. The BBC is in transition, it comes as no surprise to me that they are reticient to confirm/deny vague stories in the likes of Private Eye, they did however have a duty to confront the mainstream media allegations in the Mirror etc head on. Once they did so their word and especially that of Capaldi should be taken at face value by real fans of the show. Sometimes we just have to trust people's word. Although in the world of the internet that seems to be getting much more difficult to do.

If DW went out at 7pm and Strictly was at 7:45pm then Strictly would tend to overlap with ITVs primetime offerings. And we know that according to the government that's basically a crime these days.

So the BBC is chicken. DW is hardly competition for X-Factor, Strictly is.

I feel split on this. I would love it to be on at about 7.30 on a Saturday night when they have no huge show like Strictly - which is most of the year. I wouldn't like it to be earlier than that - 6.30 hasn't done Jekyll & Hyde any good. It would be brilliant to see DW the focus of the whole schedule on a Saturday.

But if they get that, then they have to make a Saturday night mainstream show, for example one where you can pick up what's happening quite easily if you missed last week. If they want ratings as the point of the programme, they have to reflect that in the way they make the show. And do they really want to do that? If they want to make a cult show that is watched primarily on catch-up, also fine, but then it doesn't matter where in the schedule it is.

I can see their point, but I don't really believe the scheduling is the main issue.

It seems your comprehension has failed you there - no where did I say Moffat controlled the time slot. I said Moffat wanted the show moved to Autumn which is hardly a secret. He was very vocal about it. Not being stupid he knew when the time slot would be. We all knew and he'd have to have been living under rock to not realise it! He was obviously happy with the idea and tbh the late times didn't affect the show last year nor the successful show in the slot before that.

Blaming the time slot feels like a soothing scape goat tbh.


Yes there is. The limits on when the Strictly live show can finish stops things being scheduled the other way. If DW goes out pre-SCD then at times it would be starting before 6pm. Starting early isn't an advantage if people aren't ready to sit down and watch and frankly anything before 6:30pm is too early. Ideally DW would be on at 7pm but there's no way that can happen whilst it remains in the Autumn.

How would Moffat know that the BBC would schedule Strictly in such a way that it was BEFORE Doctor Who and at the length it currently is ? He wouldn't. The move to autumn was right imo. Doctor Who is a science fiction show with some mild horror elements best served in the darker evenings. Sadly you're working from the assumption that Moffat would know the plans of the schedulers ... he wouldn't so far in advance. That's the point. He makes HIS programme, not arranges the precise nature of the schedules - the general move to autumn is therefore a mute point. The schedules could've been in the spring and the timing could've still been an issue depending on the programme content and the other programmes that the SCHEDULERS arrange to show on the same night. It has no bearing on the issue at hand.

As regards Strictly - that's utter garbage tbh. "the limits on when strictly can finish" since when were there limits on when strictly can finish ??? Nothing to stop them starting Doctor Who say at 6:45pm and starting Strictly at 7:30pm other than the preconception that Strictly mustn't run opposite the X Factor (which is ridiculous) or that the Doctor Who content is too adult for that start time and it's those points that are being missed. The issue here is not just Doctor Who but the wider scheduling of Saturday night. In that respect, Moffat (and Capaldi) is right that DW is possibly being used as a pawn by the BBC. The simple fact the consolidated viewing figures are not significantly down would prove that the "live" events on Saturday night are more important to both BBC and ITV in terms of the scheduling with more viewers than in previous seasons choosing to watch DW on catchup. That's more of a reflection on viewing habits rather than a problem with the show being on in the autumn. If DW was up against Britain's Got Talent for example the issue would probably still exist and it is that factor that Moffat was referring to.

nothing new really, they did the same in the 80's

Please note that after strictly is finished they film the Sunday show. The later that strictly is finished the later the Sunday show filming goes. As they have a studio audience I doubt that they want to film it so late.

Is an extra 45 mins too late ?

They could always move Doctor Who to Sunday teatime before the Strictly results show. People are less likely to be out especially as it is dark then.

Yes. It's been mentioned many times on here. They have to wait 20 mins for the voting and then have to film the results show. The audience must be let out in time to collect their belongings and get to public transport. There's also a curfew in place in the area due to noise of that many people leaving and they could be fined in they break that. They schedule SCD and then everything else is put in place around it - it will always get precedence over any other show on Saturday because it's live and there are restrictions (not to mention it gets 10m viewers).

As for your argument that Moffat wouldn't have known when they'd put SCD on? Of course he would! It's been running at that time and that length since series 4 of Merlin which was about 5 years ago now! It would hardly have been a surprise to him. SCD has been on for 11 years - it's length and scheduling won't be a surprise to anyone working for the BBC unless they truly have been living under a rock.


Countryfile is currently there and frankly it rates better than DW and has a very loyal audience. Why would they move it?

So there's nothing stopping them moving Strictly other than a 10 O'clock curfew ? There would be much more noise from pubs/clubs closing on a Saturday night ffs. Nothing stopping the BBC asking for a 1/2 hour extension on the curfew is there ? or are they frightened of doing so ?

Strictly could be started earlier in the schedules or that other programmes before it be bumped.

This still doesn't change the simple fact that Moffat is NOT responsible for where the BBC schedule programmes. He is responsible for making the programmes.

Doesn't matter how many times you dress it up Claire - the fact remains that he is not responsible for what others decide to do. He asked for the programme to be moved to the Autumn, whether he asked for a specific time on a Saturday night is open to question, the material however MAY still dictate to the BBC when they consider it appropriate to air.

As for Countryfile - it has a loyal following mostly because it targets a specific demographic. Programmes like Strictly and Doctor Who don't. There is a distinct difference therefore in the target audience.

Constantly blaming Moffat for decisions that are outside of his control is futile and frankly makes some on here look exceptionally bitter. Be grateful it's not 1989 again.

5.45 Countryfile
6.45 Doctor Who
7.30 Strictly Results.

Do we really have to put up with this shit again!!!!

Im sick of the series splits. Fans deserve a yearly series.