Moffat Plans More Doctor Who Episodes Than Ever
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- August 8, 2014
By James DeRuvo (doddleNEWS)
Having a 22-episode-per-season order here in the U.S. is nothing special. But in the Great Britain, that’s nearly an eternity. The BBC likes its variety and actors like the freedom to be in different shows during the same year. It’s a nice setup. But with Doctor Who, the way the BBC does things is starting to … well, let’s just say it’s holding the Doctor Who and his TARDIS back from its worldwide momentum. And writer-producer Steven Moffat wants to adopt a more U.S.-centric view of making the long running sci-fi series have more episodes. But not in the way we think.
And we don't call them prequels, we don't call them minisodes, we just call them Doctor Who. That's all they are. As I say, why not do an episode that's ten minutes? Or an episode that's half an hour? It depends what it suits. – Steven Moffat
Doctor Who mastermind, Steven Moffat
On a worldwide tour to promote the new season of Doctor Who and to introduce fans to 12th Doctor Peter Capaldi, Moffat answered questions as to why British TV shows have short seasons with longer breaks in between. Moffat responded that even though the season is usually shorter than what we are accustomed here in the U.S., he’s seeking to give fans more content by providing alternative avenues for them to get their Who on.
And that includes webisodes on the internet. “We'll certainly do some more. We'll do more prequels and stuff,” Moffat says, hinting of a grander plan for series 8 of the modern Who and beyond. “I've been in to talk to the channel controller of iPlayer and they're very keen.”
Moffat continues, “… [A] lot of our audience make no distinction between (Pond Life) and the TV show. Same with The Night of the Doctor. What I think is quite exciting about all that stuff is you're allowed to do a six-minute episode.”
Moffat is obviously happy with just how well the mini webisodes were received with then-companions Karen Gillan and Arthur Darville (called “Pond Life“) for Season 7 and the the 50th anniversary webisode, The Night of the Doctor, starring 8th Doctor Paul McGann, whose surprise appearance was so incredible, that fans started screaming for a spin-off. And while Moffat isn’t interesting in producing competing Doctor Who series, he is now a complete convert to harnassing the web to provide content that supports the main series.
“I actually think 'The Night of the Doctor' is one of the best ones we've done,” Moffat says, “and I don't think it would be improved by being 45 minutes long. What more storytelling do we need?”
“Right, what crew do we already have, what actors do we already have, what set do we already have?” Moffat asks. “So we'd spend no money on it at all, whack it out in a day, pump the money into the episode and off you go.”
And Moffat believes that’s where the entire industry is goin … to downloadable content. And he may be right. Recently, a report showed that more people are cutting the cord and canceling their pay TV services in order to rely on streaming video memberships like Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu. “… there's going to be more of that, up until the point when all television is like that. And it will be. All television will be downloadable content. It's coming,” Moffat concludes.
Meanwhile, look for the next generation of Doctor Who, with Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor, to premiere on BBC and BBC America on August 23rd.
Hat Tip – Blastr
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