Would we benefit from any change to the BBC?

[Richard Develyn]

With the BBC coming under some scrutiny from the government and questions being asked about whether it should be more or less commercial, more or less niche, more or less government/licence-payer funded, and so on, do we believe that any changes to the BBC would be of benefit to our little niche of missing-episode enthusiasts, or do we think it more likely that changes to the BBC would be detrimental to us?

To give an example - if the BBC was more commercially driven, would the fact that Doctor Who (mainstream) is so successful cause them to put more money / effort into classic Doctor Who as a supporting product (e.g. see a release of The Underwater Menace, perhaps see more money going into animations, episode hunts, and so on)?

Or would it be better for us if the BBC was instructed to be less commercially competitive against other channels? Would classic Doctor Who then be seen as exactly the sort of niche market that they should be catering for instead of producing big-ticket items like The Voice?

I don't know - I'm just wondering what other people's views might be.

Richard

[Darren Jones]

I suppose it would depend on how the BBC would define commercial. If it was more commercial then the newer 'bigger' series would probably get more of a 'push' to make money and the lesser selling DVDs / Blu-Rays would, most likely, get phased out. If it was less commercial, then would Doctor Who be classed as too popular and that money would need to be spent elsewhere in order to release a (hypothetical) 1972 documentary series on Welsh cheese making complete with assorted extras?

Either way, I think we, as Doctor Who fans, could / would lose out. (Just look at the way the BBC released TEotW and WoF as examples.)

[George D]

I think these polititans who are trying to save the tax people money by elimating the bbc should set the example by saving the tax people money by eliminating the politians salaries.

[johnbarbour]

Good question Richard. I suspect that however the politicians dress up this BBC reform it will have absolutely nothing to do with quality so niche interests like Dr Who are likely to get short shift. Missing episodes from the 1960s are likely to be even further down the agenda. Especially if any recovery of old film involves weekend working!! If I thought for a moment that scaling back the sprawling tentacles of the BBC would sharpen its focus on niche interests like ours based on worldwide sales of Dr Who merchandise I would offer to lead the reformation myself for free. However I cannot avoid the facts that it was this same sprawling and sometimes bureaucratic monstrosity that gave birth to Dr Who, killed it off then though better of it and resurrected it and restored some missing stories. I cannot see a politician do better than that. Let's remember that politicians have always been portrayed as dunderheads throughout the series and I think on reflection this portrayal is spot on.