A great example of the British tabloids’ malign tendency to fasten themselves to anything they consider “a British institution” and use it to throw their weight around as arbiters of “Britishness”, both generally and specifically in the case of “Doctor Who”, of which I’m a long-time fan.
A similar situation prevailed back in the 80s with the original iteration of the show. By then, “Doctor Who” had been on the air continuously from the early 60s and starting to flag creatively; the best thing probably *would* have been for the show to take a break to regroup– but any suggestion it might do so was met with cries of “nooo it’s an INSTITUTION!!1!” from the tabloids, petitions to “save” it, etc. In the end, it all culminated in the show actually going off the air for a year (though not on its production team’s terms) and the dismissal of the incumbent actor in very acrimonious circumstances (TL; DR he had been given the brief to make the character of The Doctor as unlikeable as possible in an attempt to bring the show more in line with the edginess and irreverence of 80s media generally; and when this had the inevitable effect one would expect on viewing figures, he was thrown unceremoniously under the bus for it). The show struggled on for a few years more and even seemed to be turning a corner when BBC management lost patience and took it off the air until the revival in the 2000s.
This time around, the tabloids’ position is that the show has gone “woke”. I would say the writing on the show is extremely uneven but then, it always was. The tabloids’ real objection is the actor currently playing The Doctor is insufficiently white and straight for them and their assertion that the show is on the rocks is so much disingenuous posturing from them. Fingers crossed that the management of the BBC have a little more spine this time around in the face of cultural blackmail from tabloids, though I’m not sure I’d put money on that
A great example of the British tabloids’ malign tendency to fasten themselves to anything they consider “a British institution” and use it to throw their weight around as arbiters of “Britishness”, both generally and specifically in the case of “Doctor Who”, of which I’m a long-time fan.
A similar situation prevailed back in the 80s with the original iteration of the show. By then, “Doctor Who” had been on the air continuously from the early 60s and starting to flag creatively; the best thing probably *would* have been for the show to take a break to regroup– but any suggestion it might do so was met with cries of “nooo it’s an INSTITUTION!!1!” from the tabloids, petitions to “save” it, etc. In the end, it all culminated in the show actually going off the air for a year (though not on its production team’s terms) and the dismissal of the incumbent actor in very acrimonious circumstances (TL; DR he had been given the brief to make the character of The Doctor as unlikeable as possible in an attempt to bring the show more in line with the edginess and irreverence of 80s media generally; and when this had the inevitable effect one would expect on viewing figures, he was thrown unceremoniously under the bus for it). The show struggled on for a few years more and even seemed to be turning a corner when BBC management lost patience and took it off the air until the revival in the 2000s.
This time around, the tabloids’ position is that the show has gone “woke”. I would say the writing on the show is extremely uneven but then, it always was. The tabloids’ real objection is the actor currently playing The Doctor is insufficiently white and straight for them and their assertion that the show is on the rocks is so much disingenuous posturing from them. Fingers crossed that the management of the BBC have a little more spine this time around in the face of cultural blackmail from tabloids, though I’m not sure I’d put money on that
Dr Who was on the ABC in Australia from the early 60s, until the greedy BBC sold it to Disney.
I haven't watched it since, as I can't afford - and don't really want - a Disney subscription.
Overnight, Dr Who lost millions of Australian viewers who couldn't remember a time when it wasn't on the ABC. 😔
That’s not very woke of the BBC, is it?