When Your Show Grows Up

When the revived series of Doctor Who came back in 2005, a survey was taken to gauge the public's opinion on whether it would be a success or not. The results came back as a resounding no (about 85%) yet the decision was still made to go ahead with making the show. Now here we are, 8 years later, 3 Doctors and almost 7 series, but has this new, modernised version of the classic sci-fi show had any impact on the world outside this small island I like to call home? Well, yes actually and it seems the largest new fan-base comes from America. The show is now massive, spawning thousands of new fans all over the globe from small children to grown men and women who just want to see their favourite timelord whiz about the Universe. Now I have absolutely no problem with this, exposure of your favourite shows often leads to more events (comic cons, DW exhibitions)  and perhaps more specials and bigger and better episodes. However, in the past couple of years it seems like the big old BBC have been neglecting poor old England. Now this is by no means an attack on other countries liking the show, more like a gentle telling off to the BBC. 

Okay here's the bee in my bonnet. As many of you may know, the 50th anniversary of this spectacular show is this year (and coincidentally falling on the exact same day, a Saturday) and of course this means special shows, a convention etc... But it seems that compared to other countries, the UK is getting next to nothing in regards to special content. So far this year we have had, well nothing really, Series 7 Part 2 is coming up on the 30th, but for the near future, nope. So my big finger of blame points to one culprit, BBC America. Seriously the amount of special programmes and old episodes this channel gets is spell-bounding. They show marathons of current series, shows explaining the science of Doctor Who, Old Doctors revisited for the 50th Anniversary and many more. Doctor Who is a big part of our cultural history over here, so the decision to not give us any of these may sound perplexing....

Unfortunately this is just an example of a show "growing up". This started in 2010 when the brilliant Matt Smith took over from David Tennant as the 11th Doctor and the campaign to get it big in America was launched. A new regeneration is perfect for newcomers to the show, new characters, new storylines and even a new head write meant a fresh feel to the show overall. The BBC must have jumped at this opportunity to get more people to the Whovian (fan of Doctor Who) way of life. I think that they may have gotten a bit carried away though, left us in the dust per say, and that makes me a bit sad. Kind of like when your favourite indie actor gets it big, the fame goes to their head and they start doing major Hollywood blockbusters. They lose their soul in a way. So as I said, exposure is fantastic, I love the community of Doctor Who and the people that make it and star in it, but Doctor, I think the fame has gone to your head.