petra1989 Posted May 21, 2005 Share Posted May 21, 2005 This was taken from telegraph.co.uk The timely Doctor Who saves family audience By Elizabeth Grice (Filed: 21/05/2005) Waiting for the first episode of his brilliant reinvention of Doctor Who to reach Saturday evening television, Russell T Davies felt like a doomed man. "I lived in fear that the family audience had disappeared," he said yesterday. Billie Piper and Christopher Eccleston "A demographics expert seriously told me it did not exist because children have television sets in their bedrooms and are embarrassed to be watching the same programmes as their parents. That is a very scary thing to be told. "We could have been dead in the water. I was ready for Doctor Who to fail." As the Time Lord prepares to make his ninth appearance on BBC1 tonight, viewing figures are still at a heady eight million and the doctor has started a renaissance in family drama that could spread throughout television. Elaine Sperber, the head of drama at CBBC, believes that the success of Doctor Who's cross-generational following is what faint-hearted programmers have been waiting for. "It proves that the audience is there. Yes, family viewing is changing; we may no longer sit in the living room with a cup of tea but families still like to view the same thing - some in the kitchen, some in their bedrooms - and talk about it afterwards." Family drama is due for a revival, she says. "It may be the holy grail but we are well on the crusade." On the back of the Doctor Who phenomenon, the BBC has decided to court family audiences as never before, not just at weekends but on bank holidays, too. The results should begin to show in 18 months. "There is a real desire by broadcasters to go back to this family area," says Anna Home, the head of the Children's Film and Television Foundation and a former head of BBC drama. "The BBC and ITV are actively looking. But hitting the right level is hard - people find it difficult to define what family drama really is." Twenty years ago it was precious Little Lord Fauntleroy and the rudimentary animatronics of Chronicles of Narnia. Today it is Fungus the Bogeyman, I Was a Rat or Stig of the Dump - robust, slightly subversive entertainment. "The key is to have a multi-level approach so that people of different ages can respond in different ways," Miss Sperber says. The received wisdom is that made-for-family drama has been torpedoed by the growth in multi-channel and niche channel television. Family programmes are also said to be less attractive to advertisers. But Russell Davies believes that family audiences, while neglected, never really disappeared. They exist for the soaps such as Home and Away and EastEnders. They exist for Pop Idol and Big Brother. They even exist for safe, old-fashioned Heartbeat. "If you make something good, people will watch it," he says. "That's the only thing that matters. There has to be integrity: an honest reason to make something." Jane Tranter, the head of BBC drama, believes that family programmes fell from favour because they "remained rather childish when everything else around was becoming more sophisticated". She detects "a real appetite" to build the family genre in a new way. The popularity of so-called "crossover fiction" - children's books by writers such as J K Rowling, Philip Pullman, Mark Haddon and Charlie Higson that are being devoured by adults - suggests an untapped market for family drama that has a similarly free-range appeal. Russell Davies, who has read Philip Pullman, all of Harry Potter and is well into Eoin Colfer's Artemis Fowl, says: "We were very aware of the genre when we made Doctor Who." Eoin Colfer says the really successful crossovers, whether films, television or books, do not underestimate children's intelligence. "My seven-year-old son watches The Simpsons with me and we laugh at different parts. For success on all levels, you have to get a good group of writers together and write the smartest thing you can. Kids like to 'watch up' to a level above where they are supposed to be." elizabeth.grice@telegraph.co.uk :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GorunNova Posted May 21, 2005 Share Posted May 21, 2005 Hear, hear! It's one thing to watch a nice show, but a totally different thing to watch a truly great show that brings up things to talk about afterwards (or in anticipation of what's to come? :D ) It's even better, when these new, younger viewers are talking to older, old-series fans for background on this great 'new' show ^_^ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fenriswolf Posted May 22, 2005 Share Posted May 22, 2005 It makes me feel all tingly and special to be an old Whovian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Potato Posted May 22, 2005 Share Posted May 22, 2005 I'm not sure what you mean by Old Whovian (I've only been a fan since 1987 not what I'd call old), but a return to family drama sounds great. Probably won't happen over here in the States. No one here will even buy Who (yet), so we'll probably never know what it would do in the ratings. Course our ratings system sucks anyway, a small minority determine what the rest of us get to watch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GorunNova Posted May 22, 2005 Share Posted May 22, 2005 Heh... been a doctor who fan ever since I can remember ^^... one of the earliest memories I have is of a scene with the 3rd doctor, silouetted by the night sky, going to the TARDIS. (later, found out it was the very end of "The Green Death" ^^) *ahem* Well, I'm not a Whovian, though... I like ALL good sci-fi. Hell, I like all good stories, period. Still, Dr. Who had a lot of 'em, and when other kids were running around making their GI Joes shoot at each other, I was having them go on adventures in time and space ^_^ Ahh... so THIS is what nostalgia feels like! :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petra1989 Posted May 22, 2005 Author Share Posted May 22, 2005 In our house it is a family affair. Only one son won't watch it until I get it on the TV. (PLEASE start showing it in America so I can just pop a tape in) The kids are trying to get their friends to watch it now too. So maybe by the time it is released here, we will have many new fans already. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fenriswolf Posted May 22, 2005 Share Posted May 22, 2005 I'm not sure what you mean by Old Whovian (I've only been a fan since 1987 not what I'd call old)' date=' but a return to family drama sounds great. Probably won't happen over here in the States. No one here will even buy Who (yet), so we'll probably never know what it would do in the ratings. Course our ratings system sucks anyway, a small minority determine what the rest of us get to watch.[/quote'] I feel for you re: small minority, I hate that kind of thing. I really wish more fans did get to see Dr. Who especially the new series in the US - lets hope that it actually does really well and ushers in a really long run for the new show eh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GorunNova Posted May 23, 2005 Share Posted May 23, 2005 There's no basic station in the US that broadcasts Doctor Who?!? Geez... if you're looking for yet another sign that US TV has declined horribly, here's a big one! :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coolcat13 Posted May 23, 2005 Share Posted May 23, 2005 if you are really looking for a sign that US television has declined then how about this .... I have not had my television on in over 3 months with cable and all.It is totally worthless here in the states . The only US show that I even bother with at all is Smallville and I just prefer downloading it. I would watch sports but Hockey is on the shelf, Basketball is tottally out of control ,my New York Yankees even if I could get them on TV suck and football season is still months away... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GorunNova Posted May 23, 2005 Share Posted May 23, 2005 Oh, I didn't say it was the ONLY sign, just one of many, MANY signs... -_-' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fenriswolf Posted May 23, 2005 Share Posted May 23, 2005 *starts a campain to get Dr. Who aired regularly over in the US*!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GorunNova Posted May 23, 2005 Share Posted May 23, 2005 Given that I live in Canada I can see the eps on TV... I still download them for later rewatching, though ^^ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fenriswolf Posted May 23, 2005 Share Posted May 23, 2005 I'm in the UK so I get to watch them as is, but I still grab them for later re-watching, re-re-re-re-watching etc. *grins* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petra1989 Posted May 23, 2005 Author Share Posted May 23, 2005 if you are really looking for a sign that US television has declined then how about this .... I have not had my television on in over 3 months with cable and all.It is totally worthless here in the states . The only US show that I even bother with at all is Smallville and I just prefer downloading it. I would watch sports but Hockey is on the shelf, Basketball is tottally out of control ,my New York Yankees even if I could get them on TV suck and football season is still months away... We have not had cable in our house for 18 months. One I hate the only cable company in town. Two: Why bother? We would only watch BBC America. We can still see the Simpsons, with the antenna, and a few other shows we watch. (One guilty pleasure is Nanny 911 the only reality televison show we can stand) Otherwise there is not much left. One or two good show and the rest is garbage or reruns of the shows you have see 200+ times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TV Man Posted May 23, 2005 Share Posted May 23, 2005 if you are really looking for a sign that US television has declined then how about this .... I have not had my television on in over 3 months with cable and all.It is totally worthless here in the states . The only US show that I even bother with at all is Smallville and I just prefer downloading it. I would watch sports but Hockey is on the shelf, Basketball is tottally out of control ,my New York Yankees even if I could get them on TV suck and football season is still months away... Interesting. I quit watching TV too, except for baseball. the occaisonal PBS program, and the new Battlestar Galactica. And the kick in the teeth is that Doctor Who (or any British SciFi) is nowhere to be seen, even on our "all Sci-Fi all the time" network (the SciFi channel) or BBC America. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Potato Posted May 23, 2005 Share Posted May 23, 2005 I do not have cable, satelite or an antenna. I have no television reception at all. I haven't for nearly 3 years and I don't miss it. We watch DVD's, tapes and play games on our "boob tube" but no television. The only reason I would consider getting cable would be if I could watch Doctor Who. Iwonder, if I advertised that would a cable network pick it up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fenriswolf Posted May 23, 2005 Share Posted May 23, 2005 I hardly watch much TV (cept for a few things - Dr. Who etc) these days so I think you're better off saving money cable wise to be honest. Be cool if a network picked up Dr. Who though, but I think the BBC are waiting to see how the new series goes first before they make their US pitch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GorunNova Posted May 24, 2005 Share Posted May 24, 2005 Heh... I don't even have a TV... I simply borrow a friend's to watch Dr. Who and a couple other shows on TV. That's it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Potato Posted May 26, 2005 Share Posted May 26, 2005 The sad part is that I'm only 12 miles from Canada (right across Lake Erie) so if I bothered to put up an antenna I might get Doctor Who on CBC. What's cool about all the press coverage of the new series is that I'm getting e-mail from people I knew in college telling me all about the new Doctor Who. I have to keep telling them I've been following its progress for quite sometime. They think that they're giving me a news scoop or something; it's quite funny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fenriswolf Posted May 26, 2005 Share Posted May 26, 2005 I knew about the return for a while as well, been keeping my eye on it and classic Who. I have people emailing me a lot of the time and asking questions about the new series, or even pointing me to it as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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