I was just sitting here wondering when the new season (#4) of Doctor Who will air in England, and it appears that info is hard to find! The website sylvestermccoy.com seems to say the new series will start on March 22, but I can’t confirm that after searching the BBC site. Any Brits in whoblogland know anything?
Another thing: I’ve noticed that the BBC America versions being aired here in the US are very different than the ones aired in the UK. Whole lines of dialog are cut; in "The Runaway Bride", for example, the very important parts of the final scene where Donna admonishes the Doctor have been totally removed ("You need someone to pull you back"). I think that’s an aspect of the Doctor the new series is exploring quite well, and it’s a shame that BBC-A isn’t going that way. I don’t know if the SciFi channel is cutting those scenes or not; I’d rather eat my own head than watch that horrid channel. If I see one more ad for a made-for-SciFi channel movie about some monster they found in the dictionary I’ll shut my TV off forever and start, I dunno, reading or something.
February 5th, 2008 at 3:44 pm
I’m an avid Sci-Fi fan, but I’m starting to develop a great distaste for the Sci-Fi Channel. The sheer volume of garbage on it is amazing… You’re right about the ‘Sci-Fi Originals’ (although Tin Man was watchable, particularly because of Zooey Deschanel! Teh hawt.), they are pretty awful.
My issue is with the programming. Shows like ‘Ghost Hunters’ are just excrement. They seem to me to lean far to the side of promoting the paranormal, rather than acting as a team of debunkers.
It’s Sci-Fi, meaning ‘fiction’. The fun stuff is great, it’s when they start trying to treat it as accepted science that I have an issue with it.
February 5th, 2008 at 3:52 pm
I think part of it may be that BBC America requires the show to be a little shorter (something like 44 minutes instead of the usual 48). Sort of the same thing that happens when network series go into syndication.
Luckily that doesn’t happen here in Canada – the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation gets a production credit on Doctor Who because they contribute some seed money, and then they air the full episodes in prime time (though usually delayed by several months).
I noticed the same thing with launch dates when looking for the new season of Torchwood – of course, it doesn’t help that the BBC doesn’t allow anyone outside of Britain to see the website contents.
February 5th, 2008 at 3:55 pm
Then, how do you watch your Battlestar Galactica?
February 5th, 2008 at 3:57 pm
Oh, Lord, I totally agree with you on the Sci-Fi channel. It is more a horror channel anyway, than sci-fi. They also have a tendency to severely edit the programs they show to fit in more commercials. They have more commercials per hour than any other channel I know of (or at least it seems that way!)…and most of what they do show is crap. I’ll take my ST:Enterprise on HDNet, unedited, thank you very much.
Now if BBC-A is editing Dr Who, well, that is very disappointing. One of my favourite programmes, that. Any DVD series collection rumours, anyone?
February 5th, 2008 at 3:58 pm
I was going to tell you, but since you said England instead of the UK I shall punish that normally precise mind.
As a Scotsman, John Barrowman would be upset.
February 5th, 2008 at 4:05 pm
I stopped watching BSG when they left New Caprica and Adama hit the big red “reset” switch. And when Adama didn’t throw Saul out the airlock for gross negligence for the 83rd time. And when and when and when.
I hear it’s getting good again, but I’ll wait.
February 5th, 2008 at 4:07 pm
Well the SciFi Channel just announced that they’ll be airing season 4 and The Sarah Jane Adventures in April, so that’s the latest it can air in Britland.
February 5th, 2008 at 4:10 pm
There have been a LOT of changes over at Sci-Fi in the past month. Probably most significantly, Bonnie Hammer, who apparently was responsible for the monster-of-the-week movies and other crappy fare, is no longer there. A lot of executives aren’t there anymore, either.
Stargate SG-1 was good. They made a good attempt to keep to at least somewhat realistic science. Stargate Atlantis is pretty good, too, and of course there’s BSG.
I think someone should be slowly tortured for Flash Gordon, though.
Possible spoilage; Rot13 to see ( http://www.rot13.com ):
V guvax Znepu 22aq fbhaqf nobhg evtug, pbafvqrevat Gbepujbbq jvyy or jvguva n srj jrrxf bs jvaqvat hc. Nccneragyl, gurer’f tbvat gb or fbzr zber pebffbiref guna gurer jrer ynfg lrne, jvgu Znegun Wbarf nccrnevat va obgu fubjf naq, bs pbhefr, Pncgnva Wnpx orvat va Qbpgbe Jub yngre va gur frnfba. Vg’yy or vagrerfgvat gb frr jung unccraf.
February 5th, 2008 at 4:17 pm
What about the DVD releases over here in the US… are they cut too?
February 5th, 2008 at 4:20 pm
Well as far as the Doctor Who episodes having things removed, I had assumed it was due to SciFi cutting things. I don’t have access to the BBC-A airings so I can’t compare them. I have seen all of the BBC original un-cut versions of Doctor Who however. One day I happened to notice my TiVo caught “Last of the Time Lords” and started to watch it. When it began I thought something was odd but couldn’t put my finger on it. Then they got to the Doctor and [cut incase anyone has not seen it] talking and I realized the whole Scissor Sisters scene was removed. I paused it and pulled up the version on my computer. Not only was that scene cut but all sorts of stuff was just gone. This was in the first 10 minutes at least, well the first 10 minutes of the original episode anyway.
After that I told anyone that was interested to buy the box set when it was available. I shudder to think what they did with “Blink.”
February 5th, 2008 at 4:24 pm
There seems to be a perception in some of the UK that Americans want TV that’s bland, stupid and boring like most of US TV. Perhaps that’s true of some Americans, but there are hordes of us who watch BBC programs as often as we can get them because they are so very British – not in spite of that fact.
Please never become flavorless clones of mindless US TV pap! Remain English and Irish and Scottish and Welsh! We love you for who you are.
February 5th, 2008 at 4:27 pm
MJD, the first season (well the new first season) of Doctor Who is out in a DVD boxed set at least. I picked it up last month at BestBuy. I’m not sure what the release schedule is for the other seasons, but be aware that they are pricey.
February 5th, 2008 at 4:47 pm
It’s because advertisements are different in the UK, and BBC in general is different than anything in the US. BBC is funded in part by TV licenses issued over the whole of the UK (every person with a TV must pay a yearly fee), so they don’t have to have as many advertisements per hour to make ends-meet as US stations do.
Also, the TV shows don’t have to be exact the same length on BBC. So one episode of Doctor Who might be 45 minutes, then the next will be 55, and so on. On North American TV the episodes are always exactly the same length in order to fit the right number of ads into each episode.
So if a 55 minute episode of Who airs in the UK, it will be cut down to 42 minutes for the Sci-Fi or BBC-A airing. That means a lot of scenes go missing, and sometimes they are important scenes. CBC does the same thing with Torchwood in Canada as well sadly. They cut the very best line from the first episode of Torchwood in order to put an extra 5 seconds of ads into the episode. I hate them for that.
February 5th, 2008 at 4:51 pm
The Bad Astronomer on 05 Feb 2008 at 4:05 pm
“I stopped watching BSG when they left New Caprica and Adama hit the big red “reset” switch. And when Adama didn’t throw Saul out the airlock for gross negligence for the 83rd time. And when and when and when.
I hear it’s getting good again, but I’ll wait.”
I finally got BSG Razor from Netflix. There was quite a bit of the “Do we go extinct in a blaze of glory or do we hide like rats and try to survive?” agony of the early BSG2003. There were some command decisions I thought were very stupid, leading to lots of deaths and much loss of irreplaceable equipment, but I have never had to lead the last few thousands of human beings against a relentless, overwhelming enemy, so I could be wrong.
I agree that BSG slowed down during the New Caprica thread. However, watching Galactica screaming down from space, armor boiling off from the heat of the shock wave, until it was low enough to launch Vipers too close for Cylon defenses to stop them, and then spooling up FTL drives and blinking out just before hitting ground…WOW!
February 5th, 2008 at 4:52 pm
Both BBC America and Sci Fi edit Dr Who solely because of commercials, since nowadays ad time is a quarter of the hour (watch an old episode of Classic Trek on DVD and be amazed at how long it lasts, a lot of things have changed since the sixties). BBC UK doesn’t do commercials because they are publicly funded, since every owner of a television must pay a license every year to watch it. Strange but true. So in the UK Dr Who is quite a bit longer, especially the Xmas episodes.
Here in the states if you want to watch the unedited Dr Who the first three series are on DVD. Or you can wait til PBS shows it.
February 5th, 2008 at 4:53 pm
I totally agree with blizno…most American TV sucks! I’ve loved Brit TV since I saw my first Monty Python ep on our local PBS station 25 years ago. Now I can’t get enough! BBC-A has been my salvation and my lite in the dark, sullen world that passes for US TV. I even find myself using British euphemisms and phrases, and even spelling, from time to time. LOL! Please, my UK friends…don’t change…ever!
Michael, thanks for the tip! I am going to look for the Dr Who box set ASAP. The price will be well worth it…Fawlty Towers, AbFab, Python and The Prisoner were all pretty pricey, too…tax refundage is coming up shortly!
February 5th, 2008 at 4:58 pm
BA If you haven’t already looked, try digitalspy. There’s a Dr Who forum there
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=183
No one knows yet but it’s a good place to look and always upto date.
February 5th, 2008 at 5:06 pm
Just give thanks that you don’t live in Britain where socialized television gives you channels with no commercial interruptions and multiple science and nature documentaries a week.
February 5th, 2008 at 5:08 pm
Just watched the Christmas special over the weekend I guess I have to go back and watch again, oh the agony.
February 5th, 2008 at 5:13 pm
As mentioned, the DVDs of the first three seasons of Dr Who and the first season of Torchwood are available. In the commentaries they mention that this or that scene or line had to be cut “for time” for the US – but the DVDs are uncut. Torchwood has begun its second season here just a week behind the UK. It would be nice if BBC America got the 4th season of the Doctor on a like deal!
February 5th, 2008 at 5:14 pm
Christian X Burnhamon 05 Feb 2008 at 5:06 pm
“Just give thanks that you don’t live in Britain where socialized television gives you channels with no commercial interruptions and multiple science and nature documentaries a week.”
That sounds like paradise to me! I don’t have cable and rely on a roof antenna, but my cable-paying friends tell me they get just as many commercials as over-the-air.
That floors me. They pay a huge price for cable TV but they STILL have to groan through endless commercials? That is so wrong.
Also, I love science and nature documentaries.
Wait…Christian, were you being sarcastic?
February 5th, 2008 at 5:28 pm
“I’d rather eat my own head than watch that horrid channel.”
How bout a post critiquing the channel? I don’t watch it that much and am neutral but would like to hear your opinion, as you have done with movies, etc.
“some monster they found in the dictionary”
Someone cite and explain, so’s I can be entertained next time I roll up on this.
February 5th, 2008 at 5:38 pm
If you give up and start reading, what kind of example is that setting for our children? “Reading is better than TV”?
BAH!
February 5th, 2008 at 5:42 pm
who can download the entire first 3 seasons and the specials on bittorrent. they are great quality and uncut
February 5th, 2008 at 5:59 pm
No idea on the date – but on a similar subject:
US vs Germany vs the rest:
http://forums.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=55273
February 5th, 2008 at 6:07 pm
Im British and cherish the bbc, im a big sci-fi fan aswell but Dr Who doesnt really do it for me, it seems too juvenile.
which is great because its meant for kids, i love the old ones when i was young that a tng brought me up really.
but that torchwood is silly cos its just the same as Dr who but has swear words, and welsh people.
the bbc is mostly good for documentary’s and comedy’s but the comedy is often at its best when its on radio 4.
February 5th, 2008 at 6:34 pm
All seasons are available in box sets. I bought Series One with Nine and Series Two with Ten at Best Buy too. I haven’t gotten Series Three yet, but it came out Nov. 11th.
Now I saw Series Three on Sci-Fi Channel and noticed they had bad cuts in the ending episodes. The only reason I noticed is because I had seen spoilers on YouTube. *Sigh* But it didn’t seem like they had lifted whole scenes but cut for the commercial badly. Course, they may have “sanitized” for us poor Americans. The cut I remember is when Ten is explaining how the perception field works and tells Martha “It’s like being in love with someone who never notices you.” Captain Jack’s line “Oh you too?” to Martha’s expression was cut.
But apparently they have kept the man on man kissing in “Torchwood.” I had to explain to my coworkers that Captain Jack is omni-sexual (i.e. he’ll sleep with girls, guys, and aliens).
But even if “Blink” was butchered, it still rocked in the butchered form. I was totally astonished when it wasn’t the episode nominated for the Hugo.
And since I’m the one who keeps finding Doctor Who webcomics: The Ten Doctors
February 5th, 2008 at 7:08 pm
Blizno- I don’t know, what’s the emoticon for sarcasm?
Having experienced both British and American TV- it’s clear that 95% of programming on both is rubbish. However, American TV produced the Sopranos, The Wire, Seinfeld, Futurama, The Simpsons, BSG, Twin Peaks, etc. etc.
I miss the British news shows. American news is dumb. It’s only concerned with petty US party politics and Britney Spears. Even Countdown, which is the lefty news show has next to no foreign coverage. Also- the US news shows essentially lie about the situation in Israel.
The British also have superior nature, science and history documentaries. Of course, the US has Mythbusters which is excellent, but the producers seem to aim it at a 10 year-old level. Why can’t we have one science program which treats us like adults? Why does science always have to be dumbed down to elementary school level?
BTW- I can’t stand the modern Doctor Who, but that’s because I grew up with Tom Baker.
February 5th, 2008 at 7:22 pm
TV?
What’s this TV thing?
I watched most of season 3 and all of Torchwood on the internet. No commercials, and watch it when I feel like.
February 5th, 2008 at 7:28 pm
March 22nd is a great date. I think everyone should have one!
Larissa
February 5th, 2008 at 8:20 pm
A viewer survey from WTTW in Chicago asks if we like to watch “British Comedies (As time goes by, Dr. Who, etc)”
Altho IMHO the Doctor is as good an example as to how badly the Brits have done science fiction. IMHO! IMHO!!
Alsdo Phil: How do you do astronomy, write books, go to TAM’s, blog, and still have time to watch TV? Sheesh.
February 5th, 2008 at 9:15 pm
My fiance torrents the UK versions of Doctor Who for this very reason. (Also Top Gear.)
February 5th, 2008 at 9:25 pm
The real story on Runaway Bride is that it, like all Christmas episodes, is extra long (a full hour if not more) and thus BBC America cut it down to fill an hour slot while SciFi ran it over an hour & a half long slot.
Generally, Sci-Fi cuts more from regular length episodes than BBCAmerica does
February 5th, 2008 at 9:37 pm
Chas, in fact I hardly watch any TV anymore. I didn’t realize it until recently, but I basically, um, find shows I want to watch on the ‘net. I have a really nice monitor I treated myself too, and we have this boss DVD player that has a USB port and also a good AVI decoder. I’m just sayin’.
February 5th, 2008 at 9:48 pm
The original SciFi airing of Runaway Bride last year did have that dialog in it. I was also disappointed to find it was cut in the BBC-A version last week. I thought it was, by far, some of the most insightful aspects of the episode, and did a lot to set up some of the events of the following season.
February 5th, 2008 at 9:51 pm
pbs has cut bbc inports. torchwood cleaned up in move from three to two,but bbc-a still leaves more in sci-fi . remeber FCC giveth , FCC taketh away
February 6th, 2008 at 12:30 am
The BBC don’t seem to have provided a firm date for the start of series four of the new Doctor Who yet, but March-April time is in keeping with what’s been said before. This is not at all unusual for UK TV programming. We generally get a lot of trailers for things which are ‘coming soon’, and don’t get a firm date displayed on the trailers until a couple of weeks before they’re shown.
I shall be watching when series four kicks off, but, I suspect, with increasing disappointment. Doctor Who in its new format has unfortunately remained rather juvenile and superficial. Restricting almost every story to one episode has made them drop most of the depth the old series had, and for some reason the Doctor keeps falling in love with his companions, which was unheard of. People seem to forget he never kissed anybody until that dreadful movie with the Eighth Doctor in it.
Fortunately some really good stories have been told in the new framework – Blink springs to mind as by far the best of all three series so far – but there have been too many disappointments. Including every episode written by Russell T. Davies. In some ways it feels increasingly like it’s turning into a checklist of celebrity guest stars and enemies resurrected from the old series. “Oh yes, this time we’re going to have Daleks AND Cybermen AND Autons AND Silurians! All in the same episode! Oh yes!”
February 6th, 2008 at 3:57 am
There’s no announcement yet, but the 22nd seems like the most likely date for the start – Easter weekend, and gets the series finished before the Euro 2008 football tournament starts and has big games on Saturday nights. They’ve started running a preview trailer in cinemas this week, so it can’t be too far away.
The best places for news when it comes is either the main BBC site: http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/news/ or the Doctor Who News Page: http://www.gallifreyone.com/news.php
February 6th, 2008 at 4:23 am
I read in one of the papers here in London that season 4 will first air on the BBC on the 5th of April.
Looking forward to it, but not sure I’m happy about the return of Catherine Tate’s character.
February 6th, 2008 at 5:46 am
BBC America cuts “The Avengers”, too. And that’s a show I fell in love with for the dialogue, so it stings more when they don’t have any wrap-up between Emma Peel and John Steed as they drive off in whatever crazy contraption happens to be carting them around this week.
I wish my DVD budget were substantially larger…
February 6th, 2008 at 6:16 am
OK-OK
I will give Dr Who another look. The last time I saw it was in the mid-80s. Then I found it boring, but I did not watch more than a few minutes, and I may have been put off by the British style production. Tell me. Where should I start? Netflix, which is all I watch, has Dr Who going back to 63. Should I start there; or with one of the more recent incarnations?
February 6th, 2008 at 6:26 am
Whilst you are waiting, you can always watch this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZ8bZgWEoaY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qe3e5kmtduc
February 6th, 2008 at 6:48 am
I’m not in the UK, but I have a BitTorrent client and I know how to use it.
When I watched the most recent Christmas special, “Voyage of the Damned”, there was a blurb at the end about the new season starting in March – I don’t remember the exact date, though. Incidentally, the special is over 70 minutes long. When it airs in the US, hopefully it will get a 90 minute slot, otherwise it will be totally butchered.
February 6th, 2008 at 8:40 am
Could we dial back the BitTorrent refernces a bit? I know we all use it (I’m a British expat myself, and it’s my lifeline), but we don’t want to get noticed by the killjoys. And we certainly don’t want Phil to get noticed.
BTW, Phil, the Little Astronomer is gonna LOVE the Sarah Jane Adventures.
February 6th, 2008 at 8:57 am
ACK!!! Brighthouse in Orlando just dropped Sci-Fi from the line up!!! WTF! How can I watch Dr. Who now?!?!?! ARG!!!!
February 6th, 2008 at 9:10 am
Yep. After getting accustomed to classic Dr. Who in 1-1/2 to 2-1/2 blocks I was really annoyed dealing with the new ones butchered down to 42 minutes (By my stopwatch- and that includes the generic opener) I gave serious thought to giving it up untill the DVD releases. But I still watch it.
It’s been pointed out that happens to a lot of series. I have not seen Spock’s “dream sequence” in “City in the clouds” (sic? whatever) for perhaps 30 years.
February 6th, 2008 at 9:50 am
“The Cloud-Minders of Stratos.” I’m told David Gerrold sued to have his name removed from the credits.
February 6th, 2008 at 10:13 am
This sort of thing is not at all uncommon. It happens even with series produced on this side of the pond, believe it or not. I first became acquainted with this phenomenon through “Highlander: the Series”. It’s somewhat of a unique situation; both H:TS and its spinoff, Highlander: the Raven are Canadian/French coproductions. Canadian productions tend to favor the same sort of time limits as US productions (basically the same markets), while European productions tend to go for slightly longer runtime, even on channels which have commercials. Thus, the Highlander production teams specifically made different cuts for North American and Europe, with useful but non-critical segments added to fill in the extra time. These were not typically whole scenes, but just slightly extended scenes or sometimes just extended shots. (The DVD releases are the European cuts, if I recall correctly.) Fans started to do transcripts of the episodes, and these extra bits were dubbed “eurominutes”.
February 6th, 2008 at 10:33 am
Mr. BA,
Didn’t your “man-crush” star in one of those “made-for-SciFi channel” movies?
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113864/
February 6th, 2008 at 11:25 am
[...] DoctorWho Season 4 premier: March 22? [...]
February 6th, 2008 at 12:22 pm
Anyone thought of going to BBCi via a UK proxy?
February 6th, 2008 at 12:48 pm
@Waldog
Brighthouse in Orlando didn’t drop SciFi. They just moved it to channel 69.
February 6th, 2008 at 7:56 pm
Bear in mind that the premiere date for Doctor Who usually gets “leaked” and then pushed back…some would say it’s to put ITV off the scent.
February 7th, 2008 at 8:58 am
Sci-fi channel doesn’t cut the scenes.
Look, the secret to the Sci-fi channel is record it and fast forward thru all the commercials. If I had a penny for every time they say, “On the all new episode of StarGate…”
February 7th, 2008 at 9:52 am
” BBC is funded in part by TV licenses issued over the whole of the UK (every person with a TV must pay a yearly fee), so they don’t have to have as many advertisements per hour to make ends-meet as US stations do. ”
They don’t have any advertisements, outside promos for other Beeb programmes.
“There were some command decisions I thought were very stupid, leading to lots of deaths and much loss of irreplaceable equipment, but I have never had to lead the last few thousands of human beings against a relentless, overwhelming enemy, so I could be wrong.”
Surely this is what makes BSG superior to, say, Star Trek . The commanders are deeply fallible and they have to live with with the consequences of their mistakes.
February 7th, 2008 at 12:32 pm
while the broadcasts of Doctor Who and Torchwood are cut here in the U.S., the dvds are complete and unedited — ask me how i know! i can’t tell you, except it has to do with region-free dvd players and inside information.
if anyone is interested in reading a really good deconstruction or blogging commentary on both Torchwood and Doctor Who (oh, how i *love* this Doctor) try checking out the Flick Chick, MaryAnn Johanson’s blogsite:
http://www.flickfilosopher.com
she’s doing a great write up each week of one episode of DW and one of Torchwood. lots of interesting comments too!
February 7th, 2008 at 2:34 pm
I miss Rose.
February 7th, 2008 at 3:42 pm
Group hug for Steven everyone!
February 7th, 2008 at 6:54 pm
The monster of the week movies are indeed very bad, the “reality” paranormal shows are horrible, but Sci-Fi channel has produced a lot of good stuff too. The Dresden Files, Stargate SG1, SG Atlantis, The Invisible Man, and a lot of others. In addition, they show repeats of some of my favorite series (I love Star Trek Enterprise on Monday nights). Some of their movies are enjoyable. I liked Tin Man, the RiverWorld movie, and the Dune miniseries.
As far as Doctor Who, there are some scene that I noticed were cut. I have the episodes that were broadcast in the UK and I do compare them. I think it’s mostly due to U.S. TV having a lot more commercials as the edits seem mostly random and don’t seem to be on account of censorship. I really wonder how Torchwood is going to handled though. It has a lot more sex and foul language than most U.S. TV. The f-word is definitely taboo and I predict they will try to tone down the homosexual themes.
February 9th, 2008 at 5:18 pm
BA and The Rest,
Please help. I would like to try to watch Doctor Who. I use Netflix as I live off the grid in The Adirondacks, Which Doctor Who should I start with? Netflix has episodes back to at least 1964. Should I start here, or with a more recent incarnation?
February 9th, 2008 at 5:50 pm
I’d start with the 2005 series, which stars Christopher Eccelston as The Doctor. This was the return of the series after a long hiatus, so a lot of things were done to introduce new viewers to the format and the concepts.
February 10th, 2008 at 1:07 pm
They definately haven’t toned down the language, aggression or homosexuality on Torchwood . . . he he he good thing its gone up!
February 11th, 2008 at 2:16 pm
I am totally with you on the sci-fi channel. I seriously think they just throw a dart at a board with a bunch of different animals on it and say, “Okay, now make it giant and blood-thirsty.” lol. This is the reason I watch Doctor Who online, straight from the UK, well, that and the fact that Sci-Fi starts like 4 weeks after the BBC.
March 1st, 2008 at 2:27 pm
Sci-Fi is on basic cable in most of the US. They tend to censor more than BBC America which is usually found on expanded.
March 2nd, 2008 at 9:34 pm
Okay – so I know I shouldn’t ask, but….
Where can I find season 4 online?? I’ve found all the others (and bought the dvds too). But I haven’t found anything I can actually play online (”This video has either been removed or cannot be played in your region” error message) .
I’m here in the US. And while I am an AVID BBCA watcher and foreign film enthusiast, I don’t agree that all American television is yucky. But that IMHO.
I’ve caught all the Torchwood episodes on BBCA since we seem to be fairly up to date, but anytime I can get ahead of my co-workers and gloat, is a good day for me!
Any (ahem) assistance is greatly appreciated.
March 4th, 2008 at 3:40 am
>>The Doctor’s Girl
Series four of Doctor hasn’t aired yet. That’s why you can’t find it. You’ll have to wait for it to air so that people can rip it from their DV-R’s, torrent it up, and THEN it’ll be all over the popular torrent sites.
March 8th, 2008 at 10:41 pm
Thanks. I was hoping to see the Children’s Special and the Christmas Special for season 4 that have already aired in the UK.
Looks like the “not liked very much” SciFi Channel will start airing Season 4 in April. It’s on their schedule on their website.
March 12th, 2008 at 12:08 pm
The Chirstmas special 2006 (runaway bride) was a weird length, all the Chirstmas specials seem to be, so they definitely need to be cut.
And I think the regular shows might be a dash longer than normal US shows. For years the Start Trek (TOS) shows were all shorter in syndication than originally broadcast.
When I watch Torchwood (season 1) on the CBC it doesn’t seem as edgy as the BBC versions, I don’t know if it’s because I’ve seen it before or the commercials or if they’ve actually cut some of the parts.
I’ve notice the BBC seems stingy lately with the web site, before it just seemed like it was the extra content or games/activities but now they don’t even have the episodes listed for some shows….
March 12th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
HI everyone,
I am also a very big fan of Doctor who, but I live in Germany.
Just resently “Pro7″ (german TV-channel) has broadcastet the first series of Doctor who, but stopped it very soon, because apparently nobody watched it. (Nobody exept me and all my friends^^)
But I noticed it too, that pieces have been cut off.
Episode one for example : Rose.
The Part where Rose sais: “I have no job-no sth-no Future” Is not there anymore, and I don’t think its wright, because its a very important part, because then you understand why she travelles with the Doctor……
I bet, the germans didn’t see that, didn’t understand it, but nobody bothered to ring BBC and ask!
Oh well.
Now a question to you: When exactly does Series 4 start? and on which day will it be?
Have you heard Rose Tyler is coming back in Episode 3??? WOW!
greetings, Tieka
March 19th, 2008 at 4:35 pm
rose, rose, rose, I am so sick of hearing all this bring rose back. rose was really only good in the beginning. when the show started to mature she didn’t mature with it, the writers fault. she became obsolete. donna was ok, but she sounded more like a nagging wife than a good companion for the doctor. her voice is so irritating. martha, now there is a companion. most of you say she was whinny. but i think her yearning for his attention made it all the more interesting. he used her on the rebound and treated her like dirt. it’s the classic blonde syndrome with rose. i think in this day and age blondes should not continue to have more fun. bring martha back. she was sweet, yet sassy, intelligent yet vulnerable, not too bad on the eyes either, and she loved him. what more could the doctor ask for. why did they write her out on the sly. rose, get rid of her and let the doctor finally see martha.. you won’t be sorry.
March 24th, 2008 at 1:55 am
I agree with some of you that Rose was not that great a character and her and Donna should not be brought back.
As for the comments about Scifi channel, i don’t mind some of the stuff they put out personally but who the hell decided that ECW belonged on the channel??
March 24th, 2008 at 5:29 pm
@ Gary – BBC is just following the example of a number of US network sites. If you are outside the United States you weren’t able to watch episodes of Heroes or Lost. Same thing with Torchwood – outside the UK, you can’t access the site. It sucks but that’s the way it is.
I’ve been pulling the Torchwood Season 2 torrents this year. In my case, I am not really pirating them, since when the series DVDs come out I actually buy them. I am just really enthused about the series and want to know what happens next. And you gotta love the crossovers. Martha was in 3 episodes of Torchwood this season, and episode 12 is hinting at The Doctor again.
LOVE IT!
March 25th, 2008 at 9:31 am
why cant i download season 4 episode 1.
i need my doctor who fix.
it was suposed to have aired two days ago.
now im just jumping from forum to stupid forum.
reading idiot crap and responding.
i need a life.
March 26th, 2008 at 12:04 am
It starts on the 5th of April here in England. BBC-A cut it down because in the U.K. Doctor Who airs on an ad-less channel.
March 27th, 2008 at 5:37 am
Doctor who does start on the 5th of april, has any1 seen the new trailer for it, rose (of course) is back but for only 3 episodes (those are before the next xmas special) and i believe that a certain madman is bak (not from the dead but probably been found frozen or something in his escape pod) the only thing is that i dont care who comes back at the end of the series, as long as Russel davies dont f*** it up then it will b the best season finale ever.
March 27th, 2008 at 5:45 am
Sarah Jane and K9 are back aswell probably with Luke and maria, captain jack is said to be back (probably with Torchwood). and yes rose does meet the doctor again because she finds him on the beach (same beach probably were the doctor left her) and the doctor has his tardis with him
April 7th, 2008 at 5:14 pm
Almost all of BBC Shows are cut here in the US not just for commercials but for things that the US might find offensive. MI 5 in the UK is Spooks. When it came over her to the States (I am orginally from the UK) I was so shocked to see the name change and then when I watched it I knew things were missing. The BBC DVD Arent cut though