Whovians Unite

It seems that even the BBC cannot escape economics. At the start of October, the BBC announced that it was planning to cut 20% from their budget by 2017. No channels, as such, will be axed but the BBC will reallocate certain programmes to different channels, cut 2000 job and remove BBC HD. The BBC also plan to axe many beloved programmes, such as, the beloved ‘Doctor Who Confidential’; ooo dear BBC, you’ve angered the Whovians.

Since 2005, ‘Doctor Who Confidential’ has been broadcast on BBC 3 following the initial broadcast of ‘Doctor Who’ on BBC One. The program gives the viewers a behind-the-scenes look into the world of ‘Doctor Who’, drawing attention to the staff such as the cameramen, stuntmen, editors, producers and writers. Usually, you find these people are only acknowledged during the credits when they run up the television screen as quickly as possible, trying to grab your attention before you reach for the remote. Furthermore, the show captures the main cast joking around backstage, having a laugh, and genuinely loving what they do and who they work with; only confirming the statements from seemingly every guest star that this is one of the most ‘loveable’ and ‘fun’ sets to work on.

Since the BBC 3 controller Zai Bennett revealed his plans, stating he wanted to invest more finances and effort in original broadcasting and focus particularly on the 9.30 to 10.30pm slots, Whovians have united to try and stop his decision; the Save DWC Campaign was born. Immediately Twitter (as always) jumped to attention with SAVE DOCTOR WHO CONFIDENTIAL trending in the UK, whilst @SaveDWC was created. The twitter campaign in particular has been at the forefront of the campaign and generated the most interest. It has even released it’s own SaveDWC twi-bbons for supporters to place in their profile pictures whilst constantely reminding the social networking world to sign their petition.

They must have been doing something right: within a month, 52,000 people have signed the petition to save the show, including celebrities such Zoë Wanamaker, Neil Gaiman and Russell Tovey (the beloved actor and narrator of the last couple of series). The Campaign has had so much support not only from the public, but also from big names such as The Radio Times and Doctor Who magazine. Radio Times held a poll which showed 89% of the public believed that ‘Doctor Who Confidential’ should not be cut whilst Steven Moffat, the series current producer and head writer, spoke out saying it was ‘Bad decision’ from the BBC.

The decision becomes a particularly odd one when one compares it’s viewing figures to other shows that are broadcast on the less dominant channels. ‘Doctor Who Confidential’ attracts roughly half a million viewers each Saturday night and swiftly becomes one of the most watched programmes on BBC iPlayer. Furthermore, the viewing statistics remain consistent throughout the series and often beat popular shows such as ‘The Only Way is Essex’ and ‘Mongrels’.

In order to save the show, the campaign stresses the educational aspects of the programme; the way it opens up viewer’s eyes to all kinds of possible careers and opportunities. However, I feel the main reason that most viewers love the show is because it allows them to connect to their heroes. Currently the ‘Big Three’ – Matt Smith, Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill- entertain the audiences regularly as they tease, ‘fight’ and joke around with one another.

At the moment, the Save Doctor Who Confidential Campaign is waiting with baited breath for a reply from the BBC. The petition was sent to the BBC on the 3rd of November and the BBC promise to reply to such things within 10 days. Surely Bennett will not be able to ignore the overwhelming evidence that this programme is well loved and one that should be saved? Meanwhile, we shall just have to hope that for once, the human race (look away now if you don’t like cheesy lines) can group together to save the Doctor from extermination.

The petition is still open if you are interested in signing it at http://www.petitionbuzz.com/petitions/savedwc.