Having previously been derided by TV executives as an industry joke, it is now ten years since Doctor Who was revived to spectacular success by first showrunner Russell T Davies.
Saturday, September 19, 2015
Is Doctor Who exterminating BBC drama around the UK?
Having previously been derided by TV executives as an industry joke, it is now ten years since Doctor Who was revived to spectacular success by first showrunner Russell T Davies.
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I think its interesting what this article said about the term “warehousing”. I have never heard this term before but I think its an interesting synonym for gentrification. Classism is something that occurs daily in the arts industry, especially in the fields of television and films. There are a lot of aspects of this article that I just don’t understand. I didn’t realize there was such a large divide between the sections of the UK, I didn’t know people from Wales felt underrepresented and I would not have known that if I watched the TV show. This article also said some very interesting things about where popular television is headed, I would have never thought to divide Doctor Who from other British television programs, but I guess American franchises like Buffy the Vampire Slayer are really different from what BBC is use to producing. I’m curious if the show runners outwardly knew about this difference and if they are exploiting it, that would give me a whole different way to view the show and franchise.
I’m very much a fan of the TV show Doctor Who, but I have to say I didn’t know that ‘warehousing’ was an issue this show created. I hadn’t really noticed before, but now that the article mentions the lack of attention toward Whales, I’m realizing how long it has been since the Doctor has gone back to Cardiff. ‘Warehousing’ as they call it, is an interesting phenomenon. It’s something I’ve noticed before in American TV shows, especially ones produced in Canada. I’m less familiar with the television scene in the UK, so it does make sense that I wouldn’t notice when it comes to Doctor Who. One thing I always thought was weird was the lack of diversity in where the Doctor is traveling. He usually stays within the UK (typically London) or New York, or goes to an entirely different planet. I’ve rarely seen him on any other part of Europe, or anywhere else in the world for that matter. I think it’s really important not only to the Doctor’s character, but to the viewership of the show, to have the Doctor travel to different place and actually produce the show in those places, hiring staff from that area. A great stepping stone for that would be having the Doctor return to the rift in Cardiff.
I've never thought of the television industry as an ecosystem before, but in truth it is a much more attuned perspective than most. It makes sense that increased viewership of a single program would have an effect on viewing of other shows on the same network, but I never fully put this idea into perspective before. In the case of Doctor Who it sounds like the program is having an extraordinary effect on UK broadcasting having "rediscovered Saturday night TV," and opening global markets to both its broadcasting and merchandise. In some respects Doctor Who may be the best thing to of ever happened to UK television, completely reviving it and providing it with a strong export, the only issue is while the ecosystem is thriving in a larger sense the diversity within it is dwindling. While this is an issue for new TV shows shot in Wales and Scotland, as they face adversity in the face of everyone's favorite show, I think the producers of these new shows should appreciate what the Doctor Who revival has done for British television and look to find their own way to achieve similar success rather than scoff at it. While it is hard to emerge a new program in a world in which Doctor Who draws so much attention, it only takes a few strong emerging competitors to level out the playing field and balance the ecosystem once again.
This article really means a lot to me, because I was born in grew up in the suburbs of Cardiff in Wales. It's actually amazing to me that an article on this blog includes Wales, as most people think that it's either a city in England or it doesn't exist at all. Doctor Who is a show that holds a lot of meaning for me, because my family was one of the ones that all sat down on a Saturday night to watch it together. I stopped watching the show a couple of years ago because I don't like how over-produced and over-Americanized it's gotten (you can call me a hipster if you want). Doctor Who has a huge impact on British pop-culture, so I've always been proud to say it's made in my hometown. However, I didn't know or consider this warehousing issue. The BBC owes a lot to the Welsh people, so they should put some of their money (and trust me, there's a lot of it) back into the community. I lived right by where the show is based in a not-so-great area, and that's an issue. One thing the article failed to mention was other ways to support Welsh culture as Doctor Who fans. If you're going to go visit the supposed base of "Torchwood", maybe go see a ballet or play at the Millennium Center as well. There's a whole lot of places to go and see in Wales, and the producers of Doctor Who should acknowledge and embrace this.
There are multiple sides to this article which should give one pause to think about their implications. The current resurgence of BBC drama in American culture is truly exciting, displaying the society that we live in as one who is globally aware and interested in cultures outside of our immediate realm of appreciation or interaction. But on the same side of the coin, being culturally "in-touch" also means acknowledging the flaws. The rise of the BBC means the fall or decline of another television station, perhaps at a disadvantage due to region and density of expertise. While Scotland, Ireland, and Wales are portrayed in BBC productions, the skills and expertise of those regions is entirely disregarded, and these countries (as mentioned in the article) merely become "warehouses" for productions occurring outside of England. Thus it appears that there is a dissonance between having other isles being represented in British drama and them being utilized in a meaningful way. Once a balance is achieved between the two, who knows where British drama could go next.
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