The good Doctor is going home...sort of. BBC America has acquired first-run American rights for this year's Doctor Who specials. David Tennant's final episodes will appear on BBCA and not on Sy Fy.This makes perfect sense, of course. Despite having science-fiction trappings, Doctor Who is, at its core, a British show. BBCA also runs other Brit science-fiction programs like Torchwood and Primeval (which runs on BBC rival ITV, but is still British), so having Doctor Who on it is a no-brainer.
With the Sci Fi Channel's "reimagining" to Sy Fy, I can even see why it would pass on the show this year and probably future years. No doubt Sy Fy wants to own future programming and not broadcast someone else's stuff (particularly something that could be perceived as the competition).
In short, it's another reason to call your cable company and request BBC America if you don't already have it. Believe me, I've tried.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
5-28-2009 @ 11:36AM
Bob K said...
My problem is that I get SciFi HD on cable, so at least I'd have a chance to get Dr. Who in HD. All we have is BBC America in standard definition. Hopefully they'll do a Blu-Ray set, like Torchwood.
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5-28-2009 @ 1:26PM
scott said...
same deal with directv. damnit... this is a downgrade for us, not an upgrade.
5-28-2009 @ 4:16PM
Del_Usion said...
This is actually what has lead me to be a no good Bittorrent user to get Torchwood episodes. I tried, and had it all set to record the series from BBCA on my DVR, but once I got tired of watching low res shows weeks later than they aired I just ended up grabbing them online.
I want to support a channel that SHOULD be a good official outlet, but when faced with a quality degradation and delay I feel there's better choices. I can handle one or the other but not both. I know that makes me a bad person.
5-28-2009 @ 11:49AM
PB said...
Well, I for one am glad that it's moving to BBC America. I have to say, the new "Sy Fy" (well, even the old Sci Fi) have bothered me with their mostly sub par programming (Battlestar is an exception). I watch a lot of BBC America, so this will fit right in!
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5-28-2009 @ 12:40PM
Andrew Cheadle said...
I'm not suprised Sci-Fi, oops, Sy Fy is dropping a Science Fiction program as their complete lack of Science Fiction or Sci-Fi has forced them to retitle themselves Sy Fy in order to avoid confusion and I'm sure obey truth in labeling laws. OK, smug rant over, sorry.
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5-28-2009 @ 12:45PM
Andrew Cheadle said...
Ok, maybe not complete, because for now they run some Sci-Fi. But I don't see it lasting past the Sy Fy logo.
See, smugness can do that to you, sorry again. ;-(
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5-28-2009 @ 1:08PM
Paul McCall said...
Yeah, call in and request BBC America from your cable company then sit back and die of old age before they add it!
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5-28-2009 @ 2:21PM
Gordon Werner said...
does the BBC even offer BBC America in HD?
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5-28-2009 @ 7:53PM
Dee said...
Well, BBC America is currently advertising BBC America HD coming in July. Of course, that doesn't mean that Dish Network (my provider) will OFFER the HD channel in July. I can only hope...
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5-28-2009 @ 10:57PM
RobynM said...
I've got Dish too, and one can hope. Maybe we should start writing in to request it now.
5-28-2009 @ 10:54PM
RobynM said...
Well, I'm thrilled to bits about this. Knowing SciFi, they would've waited until either the last of the specials or the beginning of Matt Smith's run to show any of them.
BBCA certainly isn't letting any grass grow under their feet promoting it - they've already got a "coming soon" link about "The Next Doctor" on their front page.
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5-30-2009 @ 6:21PM
scazza said...
BBC would not do Dr Who in HD because of the effects/cgi. They're being slow slow in instituting HD, it's been really petitioned for with Top Gear. It's an expense issue especially with a govt funded channel.
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7-30-2009 @ 3:24AM
Morghan said...
SyFy had lost me even before they rebranded. The only downside to this is that BBCA tends to reside in a higher priced package of channels. I get SyFy with only one upgrade from Basic, I have to take another two steps up in price and channels I will never watch to get that one station.
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