BBC Cancels ‘Doctor Who Confidential’

Posted Wednesday, September 28th, 2011 04:00 pm GMT -4 by 0

As part of its ongoing effort to cut budgets, the BBC has just announced that it’s taking the axe to ‘Doctor Who Confidential’, BBC3′ s companion program to the iconic sci-fi show.

Since the show’s re-launch in 2005, ‘Doctor Who Confidential’ has served as a look inside each individual episode. Featuring cast and crew interviews and lots of exclusive behind-the-scenes footage, the hour-long program has aired on BBC3 right after the premiere of each new episode. It would air in America in truncated form on BBC America, typically cut from one hour to about fifteen minutes.

While many of the episodes have felt somewhat padded at times, it was always a nice window into the world behind ‘Doctor Who.’ Seeing the cast and crew interact with each other, seeing how they would construct a particularly complex stunt or FX sequence, or listening to the writers and producers discuss the inspiration behind a new villain or character were always very interesting and fun to watch. It also helped to add an extra dimension of understanding to each episode.

How do you feel about this decision by the BBC? Please leave a comment below and tell us your thoughts. This Whovian is somewhat saddened to see it go.

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  • http://revolvingdoorcommune.wordpress.com Teresa Jusino

    I understand the move, but I’ll definitely miss it. I’m hoping what they do instead is maybe do one big special per season at the end of every year? Because the behind-the-scenes look at the show was really nice. But you’re right, padded. Not every episode needed an additional hour of focus.

  • http://twitter.com/saskatoonauthor Sean Cummings

    Not surprised, but hugely disappointed. There’s a massive fan base for the program which exists overseas (people like me, for example) and I think they’re making a mistake.

  • http://twitter.com/nvbinder N.V. Binder

    I’ll miss “Confidential,” but it felt more like a DVD extra than a really critical part of “Doctor Who.” It could easily be replaced with a shorter web series or the behind-the-scenes clips that run on BBCA in the U.S.

    It’s sad to see the Beeb making cuts, but I’d rather it hit things like this than to “Doctor Who” itself.

  • Matti Lehtinen

    Finally, I hate that shit. “Hey, instead of taking time to write and film the next episode, let’s spend days letting each actor praise all the other actors incessantly!”

  • Stefan

    I don’t get it. Confidential must be (by far) the cheapest show on the BBC. All they need is a camcorder and follow around the cast and crew.

  • marksmind

    Love Doctor Who – never watched Confidential.

    • Janice Kay

      Confidential was great because it gave a behind the scenes look of an episode and you would also get great tidbits and backstories of the episode that you don’t get just by watching the series. It was a sad day when BBC decided to cancel it.