Axed: Doctor Who Confidential
The BBC has axed Doctor Who Confidential, its behind the scenes companion show to Doctor Who, due to costs.
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The BBC has axed Doctor Who Confidential, its behind the scenes companion show to Doctor Who, due to costs.
The spin-off, which airs in Australia on ABC1, has aired in on BBC3 since 2005, when the sci-fi was revived by Russell T. Davies with Christopher Eccleston as the ninth Time Lord.
But with the BBC facing budget cuts of up to 20% across its output BBC controller Zai Bennett has chosen to axe the show at the end of its current series.
A spokeswoman for the BBC told The Guardian: “Doctor Who Confidential has been a great show for BBC3 over the years but our priority now is to build on original British commissions, unique to the channel.”
Speaking last month at the MediaGuardian Edinburgh International Television Festival, Bennett said: “It’s about focusing my budget on 9pm and 10.30pm; those are the time slots that count. Budgets are tight, so we have to be sensible with the money we have.”
Confidential‘s last episode will look at the making of the upcoming 2011 Christmas Special.
The timing of the announcement comes just as the final season of The Sarah Jane Adventures is about to air in the UK.
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- Tagged with Doctor Who, Doctor Who: Confidential, The Sarah Jane Adventures
21 Responses
A lot of the older generations of fans aren’t mad for the new series and that’s fine, they can pass a judgement, but it will take a lot for a show so iconic as Doctor Who to be cancelled completely. I’m a relatively new watcher to the show (The Lodger in April this year, to be exact) and have since watched every episode starting with Christopher Ecclestone’s first appearance. I love it and yes, although Steven Moffat can confuse me endlessly at times and Matt Smith is a new, unique kind of Doctor, it is still very brilliant and has me enthralled every week without fail. I will miss Confidential, too. It was fun to get a look inside the production and filming, as well as have a laugh with the cast.
I think DWC must be one of the cheapest shows to produce. It looks like a guy with a camera following around the cast. I reckon its more to do with a new controller of BBC3 wanting to have their own ideas so cancelling things that aren’t their baby. What I love about doctor who fans is no one is allowed to have a negative opinon of the show – it’s just “you are entitled to your opinion but you are wrong”. I have watched the show since 1974 and am a huge fan. But I really hate this series. That’s my opinion as a fan – I watch it out of loyalty and in the hope it will get better.
@ Aaron
I meant that the online petition which I knew about might work and they bring it back or make a limited number of them. Perhaps the cutdowns become the full version. Or they still do something like the cutdowns as extras on the DVD. I’ll admit it is wishful thinking and it may not happen. I did get they cancelled it but I was hoping that that gets changed. Or it isn’t as extravagant as mentioned so something gets made for the DVDs in a limited way as I’ll miss it. Basically what Craig said. 🙂
I don’t think the Confidential is happening for Christmas. It looks like this week’s is the last one (in the UK)
First off, I’m not that broken up by the fact that Confidential is going, they might revive it for a one time thing when Matt Smith leaves just as they did when David Tennant left and they announced his replacement.
Best episode: Do You Remember the First Time with Tennant and Moffatt walking around TV Centre with memories of what was filmed where. Special stuff.
@Haters: You are wrong, plain wrong, just stand there and be wrong and that’s the end of it. Doctor Who is utterly brilliant, the last five weeks have delievered some of the best stories of all time to Doctor Who. Let’s Kill Hitler was converluded but wonderful, Night Terrors was frightening but had a heart of gold, the Girl Who Waited Played with time and made you question who the Doctor really is and the God Complex was one of the best directed hours of television ever. Closing Time… not quite as good but very funny.
Matt Smith is a wonderful actor, he makes you believe he’s a 900 year old Time Lord from Gallifrey he makes you feel the emotion he’s trying to convey in the littlest motion.
If you don’t want to see this, fine, go watch Australia’s Got Talent or whatever, just don’t come on a forum and trash because you don’t like it. It’s a low act.
ETA – “More than 14,000 people have signed an online petition to save BBC3 programme Doctor Who Confidential in the last 24 hours. In the same period, the Twitter account @saveDWC has attracted nearly six thousand followers.”
radiotimes.com/news/2011-09-29/we-will-save-good-television-say-doctor-who-confidential-campaigners
I understand people have their own opinions and are free to express them but if you don’t like a show then don’t watch it, use you free will to change the channel. There are plenty of other shows on other channels to watch without calling for this show to be cancelled. With millions of viewers world wide over half a century I doubt the BBC will be canceling one of their top ratings shows again any time soon.
Ever since Matt Smith became the Dr. the series doesn’t grabbed me like it used to. I used to be a major Dr Who junkie now i cant even watch the show without cringing. The morning I see ‘Axed: Dr Who’ on this site will be the day i rejoice. We are like a sick puppy needing to be put out of misery! Ugh.
@ rick lomez: I totally agree that this season of Who is far too confusing … Maffat went too far … but there is not reason to axe it … Maffat just needs to pull his head in and get back to what works best in the show …
Shock! Horror! The other night I was more interested in my fish & chips than the new Who episode on ABC … and I have loved this show since 1975 … that is really disappointing!
This whole year has been about the Doctor dying, but that is so pointless when we all know that he is not really going to die, he is back again at Christmas …
The “Confidentlais” were always very interesting and entertaining. Sadly, the DVDs and the International audience only ever got the very short “Confidential Cutdowns” so the full 45 minute episodes were only used in the UK, which kind of makes them not worth the expense … No surprise they are gone, but definitely a big loss to the Who community!
I used to watch confidential when anthony stewart head was narrating, then only watched it for the DW eps i really loved, then when tennant left, i stopped alltogether.
Hopefully this is a sign that this awful show is on the way out altogether.
Down with Doctor Who!!!
I knew it wouldn’t be long before someone would be calling for DW to be axed as well LOL
Why are so many against Confidential, it’s not like you have to watch them, personally I thought most of the time they were very informative and entertaining. But I must say some from this years haven’t been their best. I kinda wish other shows had been more thorough (sp) in their behind the scenes stuff. Maybe shows have like a 10 minutes special for the whole season, which you have to wait for on the DVD. I wonder if now DW will go this way and just have specials (much shorter) on the DVD?
Also I missed the declassified specials they used to come with Torchwood each week.
Meh. Never watched it anyway. With less content on it does that means the DVD’s will be a little bit cheaper? (Wishful thinking, on my part).
Thank heavens Confidetial has gone!!!
I think it is also time to axe Dr Who, the shows now are so confusing and you need to be taking substances to understand them, watching the Old Episodes on Sci Fi, though very cheaply done, the storylnes are far better than what is being served up this season.
I liked them in cut-down form, but the full 45-minute episodes were often ludicrously padded with musical montages and irrellevant clips from the original series. And some of those musical choices (like Take That’s “Never Forget” for Tennant’s final episode) were excruciating. It’s probably better as bonus material for the DVD set anyway.
Craig – At the time of Lis Sladen’s death only six of the intended 12 episodes of SJA were filmed. It was then decided that the fifth season with what has been filmed of it would be the last season.
A- if they are axing Confidential it means that they won’t be making any at all, the Cutdown is just an edited version of the full episode. So it won’t be on any DVDs.
Craig – They had filmed a few episodes of Series 5 before Lis Sladen passed away, they are what will be airing.
Noooooo… I love confidential, some weeks its the best part of the show, and the ABC only gets a cut down 10 minute version of the 45 min show, it will be missed!
Also I thought The Sarah Jane Adventures were done?
I’ve heard the Confidentials were pretty unique. I’ll miss them although I hope they can get them to at least do some a year or keep making the cutdown version of them as a DVD extra. I wonder what will the ABC do to fill the extra time?