Rather Depressing Schedule Rumors

[neadods]

Tomorrow is my last day before I head out for ChicagoTARDIS, and have I packed? No. Have I cleaned the house? No. What have I done? Worked extra hours so I don't have to take vacation time, bought a purse, and stuffed my ipod. My priorities are a bit whacked, this I know.

Putting the schedule rumors up for discussion here because right now they are just rumors, and I'm not as happy as other people seem to be.

What we know is that in 2009 we get 4 Who specials and "Torchweek" (the 1-week, 5-ep miniseries), and in 2010, Moffat takes over Who for a regular series with the Eleventh Doctor.

What the BBC confirmed today is that the Sarah Jane Adventures has been picked up for a third season.

What the rumor is: The SJA will air in fall of 2009, leading up to the Who Christmas special that will presumably have the regeneration. Then there will be some unknown number of Torchwood episodes in very early spring, leading into the new season of Who. So far, so good, and everyone's happy that SJA S3 is confirmed and there's discussion of Twood S3.

But then the rumor continues to say that SJA and Torchwood will be ended to allow Moffat to take Who wherever he wants to go without them cluttering up the Whoniverse. And this, if true, I consider to be shortsighted and depressing. Why couldn't Moffat guide them as well? It's not like he's unfamiliar with the characters - hello, WHO created Captain Jack? - and the idea that they're too invocative of Rusty's ideals for anyone else to take over is... well, as insane as the notion that they really had to throw Torchweek scripts in shredders, actually.

However, the rumor does come from a fairly reliable source. On the third hand (it's a show about aliens after all), the source could be reliably repeating something that might be in the works now but will be changed later - there's a lot of time between now and 2010. Or 2011, if the reality behind the rumor is that Moffat wants to focus on Who and then bring back Sarah Jane and Torchwood after they've had their years off.

Unless for some reason RTD won't let the BBC continue the spinoffs he created without him. But any reason I could come up for that is unfairly childish.

Comments

[jigglykat.livejournal.com]

NOOOOOOOOES.

I know that I see the "created by" credit to RTD in the beginning of each episode, but how involved is he in both Torchwood and SJA? Didn't he write the pilots for both shows, but that was it? It feels like he focuses more on Who while sort of overlooking on the spinoffs. Maybe Mr. Moffat, while still overseeing them, have someone in charge of them? He still has the final word on everything.

I don't know where I was going with that, my brain is SO fried right now.

Also, DUDE. FRIDAY. My flight gets in around 10:45. That's WAY earlier than I thought!

[neadods.livejournal.com]

Cool on the earlier arrival! Looks like the con's going to be hopping all Friday long.

I'm sincerely hoping that "created by" isn't equaling "taking my ball and bat and going home because I don't get to play in the big park anymore."

[drho.livejournal.com]

I don't understand how Torchwood and Sarah Jane Adventures would interfere with Doctor Who or why they couldn't change to complement whatever tone or storyline Moffat sets.

[neadods.livejournal.com]

Precisely.

[violetisblue.livejournal.com]

Assuming this is true, mightn't it be more that the BBC (I hear) is having some financial difficulties, possibly these two shows will be among those getting the axe? (I remember RTD saying something about how the future F/X budget for DW was not going to be close to what he'd had to work with.) I'd be sorry to lose SJA, but it would (possibly) make more sense.

[neadods.livejournal.com]

God forbid they write stories that require more plot than CGI then.

Nastily, I wonder if this is one of the reasons Rusty's moving on, because he does tend to hinge his plots on spectacle rather than storyline. Considering that Moffat made two nations wet themselves with terror over a 5-year-old in a gas mask calling for his mother, I have confidence that he will be able work within budgetary limitations so well the audience won't notice.

[violetisblue.livejournal.com]

"God forbid they write stories that require more plot than CGI then."

I'm not so secretly hoping that that's exactly what's going to happen. Hell, Rusty's actually joked that viewers will have to get used to plottier episodes whether they like it or not thanks to the F/X budget cuts, which could be him taking the piss about being criticized for spectacle or could be him actually being honest.

"Nastily, I wonder if this is one of the reasons Rusty's moving on, because he does tend to hinge his plots on spectacle rather than storyline."

Either way, I'm betting he's feeling quite pleased to have drunk the last dregs of the media financial bubble.

"Considering that Moffat made two nations wet themselves with terror over a 5-year-old in a gas mask calling for his mother, I have confidence that he will be able work within budgetary limitations so well the audience won't notice."

Monster #1: Little kid and various extras in gas masks, a couple of CGI transformation scenes. Monster #2: Actors dressed up to imitate "clockwork" robots, one mannequin with clockwork face. Monster #3: Plaster statues and a strobe light. Monster #4: A skeleton in an astronaut suit and one CGI face distortion scene. I think he can probably work around not being able to show 89,746,922 Daleks getting sucked into a giant computer-generated void, yes.

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

Monster #3: Plaster statues and a strobe light.

Actually, those plaster statues were extras in costumes... Even less expensive than a bunch of paster statues!

[violetisblue.livejournal.com]

Really! Even better. I thought they were real statues made of plaster or Styrofoam or something.

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

No, actual living people in cossies - poor souls! I watched the Blink Confidential with fascination since David presented it...

[prof-pangaea.livejournal.com]

SitL/FotD has excellent CGI in it -- not for unlikely monster designs, but for the long shots of the library planet. i love when they use CGI to enhance alien landscapes/spacescapes. i can only assume it is much cheaper to do than the CGI monsters, so hopefully we'll get to keep a lot of those long shots of alien worlds and black holes and such.

[violetisblue.livejournal.com]

It's obviously been a while since I saw it because I completely forgot about the long library/planetary shots. No idea what the cost is on that compared to the 89,746,922 Daleks, but I'm also imagining it's a bit cheaper.

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

I think it's an insane rumour. RTD has gradually been less involved in TW and SJA anyway - SJA had two female exec producers in Season 2, and RTD wrote none of the scripts. He's writing one or more of the TW S3 eps, but that's it.

There's NO reason on Earth for the DW Exec Producer to also be the EP on SJA and TW - and I think the shows would be better off for three (or more) separate Exec Producers given how big a job EP of DW is anyway...

[acciochocolate.livejournal.com]

This is an interesting summary of the rumours and then great speculation as to how everything might work. I still wish that David was staying on one more season, just to work with Moffat, but at the same time, he has good reasons for leaving. I'm reminded of Pertwee talking about how various people were leaving, including Barry Letts and Katy Manning, and it just seemed to him like a good time to leave as well, sort of like an era coming to a close.

[acciochocolate.livejournal.com]

his is an interesting summary of the rumours and then great speculation as to how everything might work. I still wish that David was staying on one more season, just to work with Moffat, but at the same time, he has good reasons for leaving. I'm reminded of Pertwee talking about how various people were leaving, including Barry Letts and Katy Manning, and it just seemed to him like a good time to leave as well, sort of like an era coming to a close.

[spiralsheep.livejournal.com]

If SJA can maintain its current quality then I'm hoping it has a run as long as its parent programme. ::vain hope on both counts::

[--kali--.livejournal.com]

I don't see how getting in someone to showrun (like Chris Chibnall did with Torchwood) couldn't work. In fact the quality would probably be better between the shows if they had different people in charge.

[owl]

No, not my SJA!

[iko.livejournal.com]

SJA had Phil Ford as showrunner during series 2 (I believe it was announced sometime during Torchwood Series 2 airing, since it was around that time that folks on Ravelry were giving the kudos to his wife who is a member) and I heard that he will do the same for Series 3. I just don't understand how it can't be "business as usual", so I'm highly skeptical about this rumor rumbling.