But if you want to compare Dr Who with Star Trek: The Next Generation first series fair enough (I know I did and was probably wrong to do so) but remember the first season was made in 1987. Sci Fi has moved on since then, I will even agree to say not all the actors in the first series was very good namely a certain Lt Yar. But if you are going to compare it to a series today, such as Lost which starts off with a rocket there is no comparison. Another well made series has to be Fire Fly and the first episodes of that were excellent.

If Dr Who was released in 1987 it would stand a great chance in the world market, but Sci Fi has moved on, in most of the first series of Next Generation the episodes aren’t very good, Riker was annoying and it needed a lot of nuts and bolts added, Dr Who I will grant you hasn’t needed that in its first season.

However any new series launched today has to be excellent on its first outing because of the huge competition and demand of the viewers.

I was probably a bit harsh on the actors and writing, but with a bit more money spent on Dr Who, more CGI, even faster pace shows (I know mind boggling to think), even darker evil characters, get more well known actors in to the show including the likes of Bob Hoskins as guests – put it to the world stage then we would have a show to compete with the very best, this was UKs first go at a sci fi series in a long time but there is always room for improvement and it is going to need it if a Star Wars series is going to get released on to our shores in the future. Most Sci Fi shows today is like watching miniature little movies. That is what Dr Who has to become to be world famous which I would love to happen. It would be fantastic if the UK had a show which was top in the 10 in most countries around the world. We have got the skills in this country to enable us to achieve this; one only has to look at some of the famous movies that have been made in this country, and some of our Sci Fi specialists have gone to the USA.

I think the success of many of the American Sci-Fi series is largely because they are, well, American. American culture is so familiar to so many people that they immediately connect with those shows. I don't think British TV appeals as widely because people just don't "get" it. People "get" American TV because it has dominated the airwaves for decades and then look at film and music. US entertainment is world renowned yet we struggle to create a hit movie or popular band.

So, I think the real question is "should we make Dr Who more American to appear to a worldwide audience ?". I would say no because it's so British at its core that it wouldn't be Dr Who any more. But if you were to ask me "should we make more British shows that are American in style", I would say yes. They could still have a Britishness about them, but we should avoid references to 'chips and egg' if we want our shows to be hits abroad. Not all programmes, just the ones we'd really like to sell. Otherwise, we've got no one to blame but ourselves really.

double post.

You've missed the point, how many of the above shows you've listed can be watched happily by four year olds? Doctor Who is and always has been made as a saturday afternoon *family drama*. It's not meant for a 9pm audience. Season one is probably better entertainment than all 7 seasons of Buffy combined.

As a piece of all round family entertainent, it deserves all the accolades as being the the best Britsh show on TV just now.