An article in The Guardian today has revealed that the behind~the~scenes show, Doctor Who Confidential is to come to an end after its current run – read the original piece HERE. The final episode, When Time Froze, is on BBC Three on Saturday.
On a personal note, this is very sad news indeed. Confidential has been so much fun over the years, especially in recent months. Many thanks to all those involved in producing such a wonderful show since 2005 – you have brought so much joy to post~Doctor Who Saturday evening fun.
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Whilst sad news, I was starting to wonder how much more "behind the scenes" there could be left to show after six years of new Who. However, a great contribution over the years.
It's not so much the behind the scenes as in how the effects are done, but also how the writers have come about writing the episodes, and interviews with Matt, Karen and Arthur. Even the recent script to screen competition has shown how influential the series is. I think this is a big mistake cutting a show that inspired many people, especially children. I also cannot see why the show would be that expensive, as it's not full of glamorous weekly effects or a million pound budget. I can see a lot more BBC shows which could be shown the bin first.
It's sort of a shame, but they struggled to fill 45 mins with material. So much has already been shown in previous series. I would have been happy to see it vastly cut back so that we got occasional behind the scenes interviews with interesting members of cast and crew, without having to watch stunts being set up for the umpteenth time.
Although Matt, Karen and Arthur had made it a lot more watchable over the last few years with their antics, this is probably for the best. There are only so many times I need how a green screen works explained to me.
I agree that a 40+ minute episode of Confidential is a bit of a waste, but I don't see why they needed to ax it completely rather than just shorten the format to 20-30 minutes. The best parts were always the interviews with the writers and the antics of the cast. I'm really sad to see Confidential go… 🙁
I wouldn't mind if the money saved went back into Who, but will it hell!
Cross-posted from the RT article:
There are really very few shows on TV which allow viewers to peek 'behind the curtain' and get an idea of how their favourite programmes are made. Sure, Confidential isn't the BBC's biggest draw, and it's unlikely to win any awards… but it does fill a very empty niche.
Programmes like DWC drive viewers like me to want to do more than merely consume media; they inspire me to study, understand and participate in it. If that's not a more worthy use of the BBC's budget (not to mention a better fit with its charter) than any 10 cheap, exploitative 'reality' shows… I don't know what is.
I would also add that there is a whole load of BBC3's output that is much more worthy of the axe than Confidential.
With this going does that mean DW is going to go soon?
This could be a ploy to have the "DWC" be exclusive to the DVD sets. Take confidential's budget, merge it with who's and film the 2 simultaneously. Extras for the DVD sets and a greater marketing tool for selling the DVDs, plus, they're not tied to a specific time slot so they can be of varying lengths, thus we don't get repetitive explanations i.e. "how a green screen works". It would pad the Doctors budget a little more too.
Hate to say it but good riddance – they'd become gratuitous and the lack of originality in the main series is starting to overpower any interest in the behind the scenes stuff.
No fault of Matt and the cast but the stories are lame and more geared towards the action figure-loving kids than those who love sci-fi and drama. Never thought I'd say it but bring back RTD.
This is just heart-breaking. I will do whatever I can to prevent this disgusting situation.
Ever since Series 2, it's been kind of unjustifiable in its existence. Series 1, I can understand, as it documented something grand in the revival of a national institution and it's really interesting when it comes to some of the bigger episodes, like the arc-centric ones, or the likes of 'Blink' or 'Turn Left', but even they were overpadded to fill its overlong running time. I mean, how many times in its during the course of the show did you think "they've focusing on this for ages"?
As an American, I got a much better understanding of DW from watching DWC. Seeing the writing, production and filming process opened up the series to me in a way it never would have otherwise (very different from Hollywood!) Watching how the brilliant writers came to the decisions they made, along with the actors' opinions, filled in some of the cultural gaps that the episodes would frequently leave. So many young adults in the states have discovered DW during the last year, I can say nothing but Thank You for creating DWC!