"Phil won't leave his room" - A Doctor Who Production History
- Thread starter Guajolote
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I am naturally dying of curiosity. But if you think it would be better for the reveal to be handled later on, then I can safely say that we'll all be happy to wait. In either case, the reveal will be marvellous.
Part 23
AHC: Prevent Doctor Who going to the US
Monday 9:15pm
biffin
The CBS TV movie and series were a misstep, IMO. It killed the momentum Doctor Who had been building up since the switch to film and its failure led to the desperate move of having a female Ninth Doctor to claw back some recognition. Is there anything that could stop the move to the US and just have Doctor Who continue as it had been as a BBC Production?
-----------
Monday 9:25pm
BeatleBlades
To be honest, I don't think it's possible. British culture was just going that way. Britain had been a bit inward looking in the 80s. David Owen couldn't sell his own party of the idea of a more European Britain, never mind the rest of the country. There was just a bit of desire for the US to notice us and maybe have a more consumerist society in the UK after long years of social democracy.
Perversely, Owen probably turbo-charged the British interest in America. If you don't have him being PM, maybe you won't have Al Gore being compared to him and getting a lot of campaign staff from the pool that got Owen re-elected in 1987. Al Gore winning the White House meant a lot of the more "right on" people in the UK softened their stance towards America after spending eight years hating Reagan.
Also, Ninth Doctor's casting had nothing to do with "clawing back some recognition". But that's a story for another thread.
-----------
9:27pm
Bullseye82
You can't stop it. The ultimate example of a British sci-fi show going off the rails to appeal to the US already happened before the CBS Who. If Starwatch can't stop it, nothing can.
-----------
10:11pm
BeatleBlades
Ouch, ouch, ouch. Don't say St*rw*tch. Some of us haven't recovered from that mess.
- Excerpts from alternatehistory.com board thread
The history of Starwatch is difficult to navigate because it was such a mess, a lot of stories about it are more about assigning blame rather than what actually happened. Putting together things said by the people I trust most and allowing for bias in the anecdotes of other people, here's what I have.
Starwatch promised an approach that would hark back to the "good old days" of TV sci-fi. A claim strengthened by the involvement of telefantasy doyens Patrick Troughton and Jon Pertwee in the original pitch. No-one said it out loud, but everyone recognized that the main attraction offered was a return to something like the Delgado and Cuthbertson style of Doctor Who. [1]
"Starwatch wasn't some kind of protest against Doctor Who as it had developed in the 80s," says Andrew Barbicane, author of The Starwatch Chronicles. "It was just that there was a generation of TV writers coming up who'd grown up with that rich seam of sci-fi and fantasy of the 70s and felt a need for some like it to return. It was quite the opposite of the malcontented project some of the fan press labelled it. The same audience that liked modern Doctor Who also rather fancied something a bit more traditional, too. Everybody wins."
"In the end, it became the canary down the coal mine for how British telefantasy might have been treated in the 90s. It was not a happy story."
- Starwatch: "The Essence Is Out Of Phase", Cult TV magazine, July 1998 [2]
British television was undergoing an upheaval and every aspect of the industry would be questioned as the BBC/ITV duopoly prepared for the multichannel era; at Westminster, this development awkwardly straddled a further shift to the left. The plans were drawn up under the Lab-Lib pact; as much as Owen proclaimed that this arrangement was simply a bargain of necessity, many observed that the Prime Minister was more comfortable overseeing an alliance with the Liberal Party than when Labour subsequently won a clear majority in the 1987 election.
Both government and broadcasters had accepted the inevitability of direct-to-home satellite TV being commonplace by the 1990s; however, the threat of a trash TV free-for-all – often predicted by media commentators noting the trajectory of cable TV offerings in the USA – was met with tough legislation. An amendment to town and country planning laws restricted the size of satellite dishes which could be installed at residential properties in the UK; despite staunch opposition from Rupert Murdoch's press outlets, the new regulations became law in January 1985.
Thus, satellite reception would be a 'walled garden' with the winning licensee, British Satellite Broadcasting (BSB), marketing its innovative squarial; the device fitted neatly under the regulation diameter of 40cm. BSB would initially advertise a four channel service; the BBC were offered two slots, but decided to take only one. BBC3 would principally serve as an overspill channel, allowing for extended coverage of sport and news events; at other times, peak-time rebroadcasts of Open University material and archive BBC content filled the schedule.
Although the natural option for the remaining channel would have been some kind of 'ITV2' service, the ever-present political battles within the network of regional companies would prevent any such plans. As it was, Thames – the London weekday franchise holder – was already pursuing its own satellite distribution plans; more broadly, ITV had enough on its plate with the recently launched Channel Four and the troubled breakfast provider TV-am.
Into this void stepped the upstart Television South (TVS); recently installed as the provider for the South and South East of England, the buccaneering company had big plans for expansion. Having failed in its attempts to secure network ITV slots for drama and entertainment output – the 'big five' cartel unwilling to cede control of peak-time slots to the newcomer – the Maidstone-based company responded with an audacious bid to extend its reach far beyond local transmitters.
In February 1984, James Gatward attended the NATPE Market & Conference in San Francisco; touring the various events, the TVS founder networked at a manic pace. His efforts paid off; two crucial alliances were secured, with both Disney and Viacom joining the ambitious 'TVSat' consortium. Back in the UK, LWT also joined the pack; all three entities would become minority shareholders and supply archive material to the new service.
Finally, ITN agreed to produce news programming – a regulatory requirement for any successful bidder – to the channel. TVSat won the final satellite slot unopposed, with a view to launching in 1987; with its public service obligations and programming back catalogue secured, TVS itself would now begin work on its original programming. The company was clear that any new series must have broad appeal; with BSB's initial reach predicted at just 1m households, international distribution was vital if the productions were to justify a significant budget.
- Broadcast magazine, "Television In The 80s", Dec 1989
So, Starwatch was to be TVSat's secret weapon. A new sci-fi adventure series exclusive to the satellite channel. The hope was that the expense of a show with such a limited UK audience would be offset by international syndication. "Little by little, the original pitch got watered down," recalls co-creator Chris Leach. "But TVS were spending a lot of money and promises were made that once we got into the swing of things, we'd see a bit more of the original concept."
Jon Pertwee was kept on as Starwatch founder Jason Havlin, but the role of scientific advisor, Professor Patrick Caledon was scrapped and replaced with Dr Sam Lonsdale, "special operations co-ordinator".
"TVS wanted a younger lead actor, we went along with it on the understanding that he'd be a MacGyver type figure," says Leach. "In the end, we lost control of the project as TVS started throwing more money at it and pulling out would have caused a hell of a mess for a lot people who didn't deserve it."
Antony Hamilton, perhaps best know to British viewers as the second lead actor in the adventure series Cover Up, was cast as Sam Lonsdale. "He wanted to do it our way," says Lonsdale. "But by this point the series was pulling in different directions. In some episodes Lonsdale is a thinker, in others he's just another action man."
"TVS had watered the original idea down so much to appeal to the American market as they saw it. Then the American TV companies looked at it and said 'Why would we want that? If we buy a British show, we want it to be British'. And the British reaction was the same, only more pointed. Eventually Starwatch became a byword for the Americanisation of British ideas."
- Starwatch: "The Essence Is Out Of Phase", Cult TV magazine, July 1998
A billboard ad from the time. When asked about the changing of the original concept of the robot assistant, Leach just rolls his eyes and says "next question".
__________________
"I don't think Starwatch influenced what happened to Doctor Who in 1990. I think that was a tussle between BBC Television and BBC Enterprises. It's all politics."
- Jaz Forsdyne, SenitnelCon, Nottingham, 2005
It looks like the day has finally come. Once the BBC has the magic number of 52 episodes of the filmed series of Doctor Who, the show will come to an end. Season 27 is the last season of Doctor Who.
- Editorial, DWB, August 1990
We've had many, many letters about the rumours that Season 27 is to be the last. All we can say is that we've had no official confirmation from the BBC.
- Editorial, Doctor Who Monthly, October 1990
How did we survive 1990? On the 6th of December I, along with millions of others, sat down to watch Empire Of The Daleks part two. I was on the verge of tears as the credits rolled on what I believed was the LAST EVER episode of Doctor Who. And then it happened and I almost fell out of my seat!
- 1990: The Agony And The Ecstasy, Doctor Who Monthly, 1996
"That was the last in the current series of Doctor Who, but fear not, the good Doctor will return for a new series of adventures in 1992."
- Continuity announcement over the end credits of Empire Of The Daleks part two
"Fifty-two is a magic number in television sales because it's one episode a week for a whole year. But sixty-five is even more magical. It's five episodes a week for thirteen weeks. Enterprises had a couple of enquires from broadcasters that indicated they'd be interested in a package of sixty-five. Enterprises then went on to strongarm BBC1 into commissioning one more series. There wasn't time to get a proposal in for a commission in the 1991 schedule so the production office kept busy by compiling a repeat run of classic stories for the summer on BBC1."
- John Dale, DVD Extra, Empire Of The Daleks
[1] Starwatch was a real TV proposal. The story of what happened IOTL can be read here. The pitch video is on YouTube.
[2] IOTL Cult TV magazine folded with the June 1998 issue, but it's survived a little longer ITTL, maybe because the Baine Boom shows have created a few more telefantasy fans.
Thanks to Gary Rodger, who co-wrote the Broadcast magazine, "Television In The 80s" section. Thanks also to Hamish Bland who alerted me the existence of Starwatch.
Monday 9:15pm
biffin
The CBS TV movie and series were a misstep, IMO. It killed the momentum Doctor Who had been building up since the switch to film and its failure led to the desperate move of having a female Ninth Doctor to claw back some recognition. Is there anything that could stop the move to the US and just have Doctor Who continue as it had been as a BBC Production?
-----------
Monday 9:25pm
BeatleBlades
To be honest, I don't think it's possible. British culture was just going that way. Britain had been a bit inward looking in the 80s. David Owen couldn't sell his own party of the idea of a more European Britain, never mind the rest of the country. There was just a bit of desire for the US to notice us and maybe have a more consumerist society in the UK after long years of social democracy.
Perversely, Owen probably turbo-charged the British interest in America. If you don't have him being PM, maybe you won't have Al Gore being compared to him and getting a lot of campaign staff from the pool that got Owen re-elected in 1987. Al Gore winning the White House meant a lot of the more "right on" people in the UK softened their stance towards America after spending eight years hating Reagan.
Also, Ninth Doctor's casting had nothing to do with "clawing back some recognition". But that's a story for another thread.
-----------
9:27pm
Bullseye82
You can't stop it. The ultimate example of a British sci-fi show going off the rails to appeal to the US already happened before the CBS Who. If Starwatch can't stop it, nothing can.
-----------
10:11pm
BeatleBlades
Ouch, ouch, ouch. Don't say St*rw*tch. Some of us haven't recovered from that mess.
- Excerpts from alternatehistory.com board thread
__________________
The history of Starwatch is difficult to navigate because it was such a mess, a lot of stories about it are more about assigning blame rather than what actually happened. Putting together things said by the people I trust most and allowing for bias in the anecdotes of other people, here's what I have.
Starwatch promised an approach that would hark back to the "good old days" of TV sci-fi. A claim strengthened by the involvement of telefantasy doyens Patrick Troughton and Jon Pertwee in the original pitch. No-one said it out loud, but everyone recognized that the main attraction offered was a return to something like the Delgado and Cuthbertson style of Doctor Who. [1]
"Starwatch wasn't some kind of protest against Doctor Who as it had developed in the 80s," says Andrew Barbicane, author of The Starwatch Chronicles. "It was just that there was a generation of TV writers coming up who'd grown up with that rich seam of sci-fi and fantasy of the 70s and felt a need for some like it to return. It was quite the opposite of the malcontented project some of the fan press labelled it. The same audience that liked modern Doctor Who also rather fancied something a bit more traditional, too. Everybody wins."
"In the end, it became the canary down the coal mine for how British telefantasy might have been treated in the 90s. It was not a happy story."
- Starwatch: "The Essence Is Out Of Phase", Cult TV magazine, July 1998 [2]
__________________
British television was undergoing an upheaval and every aspect of the industry would be questioned as the BBC/ITV duopoly prepared for the multichannel era; at Westminster, this development awkwardly straddled a further shift to the left. The plans were drawn up under the Lab-Lib pact; as much as Owen proclaimed that this arrangement was simply a bargain of necessity, many observed that the Prime Minister was more comfortable overseeing an alliance with the Liberal Party than when Labour subsequently won a clear majority in the 1987 election.
Both government and broadcasters had accepted the inevitability of direct-to-home satellite TV being commonplace by the 1990s; however, the threat of a trash TV free-for-all – often predicted by media commentators noting the trajectory of cable TV offerings in the USA – was met with tough legislation. An amendment to town and country planning laws restricted the size of satellite dishes which could be installed at residential properties in the UK; despite staunch opposition from Rupert Murdoch's press outlets, the new regulations became law in January 1985.
Thus, satellite reception would be a 'walled garden' with the winning licensee, British Satellite Broadcasting (BSB), marketing its innovative squarial; the device fitted neatly under the regulation diameter of 40cm. BSB would initially advertise a four channel service; the BBC were offered two slots, but decided to take only one. BBC3 would principally serve as an overspill channel, allowing for extended coverage of sport and news events; at other times, peak-time rebroadcasts of Open University material and archive BBC content filled the schedule.
Although the natural option for the remaining channel would have been some kind of 'ITV2' service, the ever-present political battles within the network of regional companies would prevent any such plans. As it was, Thames – the London weekday franchise holder – was already pursuing its own satellite distribution plans; more broadly, ITV had enough on its plate with the recently launched Channel Four and the troubled breakfast provider TV-am.
Into this void stepped the upstart Television South (TVS); recently installed as the provider for the South and South East of England, the buccaneering company had big plans for expansion. Having failed in its attempts to secure network ITV slots for drama and entertainment output – the 'big five' cartel unwilling to cede control of peak-time slots to the newcomer – the Maidstone-based company responded with an audacious bid to extend its reach far beyond local transmitters.
In February 1984, James Gatward attended the NATPE Market & Conference in San Francisco; touring the various events, the TVS founder networked at a manic pace. His efforts paid off; two crucial alliances were secured, with both Disney and Viacom joining the ambitious 'TVSat' consortium. Back in the UK, LWT also joined the pack; all three entities would become minority shareholders and supply archive material to the new service.
Finally, ITN agreed to produce news programming – a regulatory requirement for any successful bidder – to the channel. TVSat won the final satellite slot unopposed, with a view to launching in 1987; with its public service obligations and programming back catalogue secured, TVS itself would now begin work on its original programming. The company was clear that any new series must have broad appeal; with BSB's initial reach predicted at just 1m households, international distribution was vital if the productions were to justify a significant budget.
- Broadcast magazine, "Television In The 80s", Dec 1989
__________________
So, Starwatch was to be TVSat's secret weapon. A new sci-fi adventure series exclusive to the satellite channel. The hope was that the expense of a show with such a limited UK audience would be offset by international syndication. "Little by little, the original pitch got watered down," recalls co-creator Chris Leach. "But TVS were spending a lot of money and promises were made that once we got into the swing of things, we'd see a bit more of the original concept."
Jon Pertwee was kept on as Starwatch founder Jason Havlin, but the role of scientific advisor, Professor Patrick Caledon was scrapped and replaced with Dr Sam Lonsdale, "special operations co-ordinator".
"TVS wanted a younger lead actor, we went along with it on the understanding that he'd be a MacGyver type figure," says Leach. "In the end, we lost control of the project as TVS started throwing more money at it and pulling out would have caused a hell of a mess for a lot people who didn't deserve it."
Antony Hamilton, perhaps best know to British viewers as the second lead actor in the adventure series Cover Up, was cast as Sam Lonsdale. "He wanted to do it our way," says Lonsdale. "But by this point the series was pulling in different directions. In some episodes Lonsdale is a thinker, in others he's just another action man."
"TVS had watered the original idea down so much to appeal to the American market as they saw it. Then the American TV companies looked at it and said 'Why would we want that? If we buy a British show, we want it to be British'. And the British reaction was the same, only more pointed. Eventually Starwatch became a byword for the Americanisation of British ideas."
- Starwatch: "The Essence Is Out Of Phase", Cult TV magazine, July 1998
A billboard ad from the time. When asked about the changing of the original concept of the robot assistant, Leach just rolls his eyes and says "next question".
__________________
"I don't think Starwatch influenced what happened to Doctor Who in 1990. I think that was a tussle between BBC Television and BBC Enterprises. It's all politics."
- Jaz Forsdyne, SenitnelCon, Nottingham, 2005
__________________
It looks like the day has finally come. Once the BBC has the magic number of 52 episodes of the filmed series of Doctor Who, the show will come to an end. Season 27 is the last season of Doctor Who.
- Editorial, DWB, August 1990
__________________
We've had many, many letters about the rumours that Season 27 is to be the last. All we can say is that we've had no official confirmation from the BBC.
- Editorial, Doctor Who Monthly, October 1990
__________________
How did we survive 1990? On the 6th of December I, along with millions of others, sat down to watch Empire Of The Daleks part two. I was on the verge of tears as the credits rolled on what I believed was the LAST EVER episode of Doctor Who. And then it happened and I almost fell out of my seat!
- 1990: The Agony And The Ecstasy, Doctor Who Monthly, 1996
__________________
"That was the last in the current series of Doctor Who, but fear not, the good Doctor will return for a new series of adventures in 1992."
- Continuity announcement over the end credits of Empire Of The Daleks part two
__________________
"Fifty-two is a magic number in television sales because it's one episode a week for a whole year. But sixty-five is even more magical. It's five episodes a week for thirteen weeks. Enterprises had a couple of enquires from broadcasters that indicated they'd be interested in a package of sixty-five. Enterprises then went on to strongarm BBC1 into commissioning one more series. There wasn't time to get a proposal in for a commission in the 1991 schedule so the production office kept busy by compiling a repeat run of classic stories for the summer on BBC1."
- John Dale, DVD Extra, Empire Of The Daleks
__________________
[1] Starwatch was a real TV proposal. The story of what happened IOTL can be read here. The pitch video is on YouTube.
[2] IOTL Cult TV magazine folded with the June 1998 issue, but it's survived a little longer ITTL, maybe because the Baine Boom shows have created a few more telefantasy fans.
Thanks to Gary Rodger, who co-wrote the Broadcast magazine, "Television In The 80s" section. Thanks also to Hamish Bland who alerted me the existence of Starwatch.
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I don't know how much of the rest of the political and cultural stuff will be mapped out. That tends to be stuff that occurs to me when I stray into the non-Doctor Who posts. At some point, I do want to tie TTL and my Beach Boys TL together (there's a little hint of that in the AHC bit of the last post). Also, I want to leave some of it to the imagination. I like to have some painted on scenery outside the windows, if that makes sense.
Interesting as always. I'm hoping that the fans treat this ITTL Ninth Doctor with more respect than they do OTL's Thirteenth. Alas, I can't say my hopes are high.
I think temperatures on that sort of thing run much higher now. There would definitely people who would be "not my Doctor" about it, but I don't think people were quite as sold on the idea of a culture war. Some people would have been unreasonable about it*, but I think the whole nature of "fight absolutely every single battle you can find in the most extreme manner you can muster" is a bit worse now than it was then. That's why I don't have any significant backlash against having some racial diversity in the 80s companions.
*by that I mean people being unreasonable about their stance, not that one stance or another is itself inherently unreasonable
*by that I mean people being unreasonable about their stance, not that one stance or another is itself inherently unreasonable
It's ironic. Racial representation is finally becoming prominent in the media, yet it's sadly easier than ever to spread hate and bile.
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