Register a SA Forums Account here!
JOINING THE SA FORUMS WILL REMOVE THIS BIG AD, THE ANNOYING UNDERLINED ADS, AND STUPID INTERSTITIAL ADS!!!

You can: log in, read the tech support FAQ, or request your lost password. This dumb message (and those ads) will appear on every screen until you register! Get rid of this crap by registering your own SA Forums Account and joining roughly 150,000 Goons, for the one-time price of $9.95! We charge money because it costs us money per month for bills, and since we don't believe in showing ads to our users, we try to make the money back through forum registrations.
The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > TV IV > Doctor Who: Is it Christmas yet? Is it Christmas yet? Is it Christmas yet?
 
  • Locked thread
Dave Brookshaw
Jun 27, 2012

No Regrets

The Action Man posted:

I'll bite. I love your reviews, Jerusalem, but I've been meaning to start a conversation about the BBC for a while.

Can we talk about how the funding for Doctor Who and the BBC works? I'm an American, so the fact that Doctor Who can't use its profits from merchandising for the actual show's production confuses me.

I understand that the BBC is government owned and controlled, but I'm not sure how exactly that works, either. Does Doctor Who get renewed for a new series by the BBC execs or by government officers? or are BBC execs government officers?

I just want an outline of how Doctor Who gets approved, financed, and renewed by the BBC. Examples from actual Doctor Who production would really help.

I worry this sounds like I'm trying to get this forum to do my homework for me, but I'm honestly just an American nerd that doesn't understand your UK Parliament and state run media.

The BBC isn't government owned or controlled - its independence from government is in its Royal Charter. It's a corporation (BBC stands for British Broadcasting Corporation) with a Trust who act as oversight. The Royal Charter defines the BBC as existing to serve the public interest by informing, educating, and entertaining the people. They have a list of "public purposes" they aim to meet: http://www.bbc.co.uk/aboutthebbc/insidethebbc/whoweare/publicpurposes

It's funded largely through fees collected from citizens when they renew their licenses to own a TV. Our current government is variously cool or outright hostile to it, as they're largely in the pockets of Rupert Murdoch they think its existence hurts the commercial tv stations. Some of those stations do actually receive some licence fee funding to support their public-interest activities, but not a lot.

Doctor Who's renewal has nothing to do with government. Like any programming, it's down to the BBC's own internal hierarchy - the Head of Drama for BBC Wales (Doctor Who since the revival has been made by the Welsh branch of the corporation), the Controller for BBC 1 (the channel it's made for) and ultimately the Director of TV.

* # ¿ Mar 18, 2015 03:49
  • Quote
Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ May 17, 2024 15:47
  • Quote
  • Locked thread
The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > TV IV > Doctor Who: Is it Christmas yet? Is it Christmas yet? Is it Christmas yet?