With 2010 edging closer and the Russell T. Davies era of Doctor Who coming to an end, the BBC is in the midst of revamping the show's website.With 2009 offering only a few Who specials and turning the series into a sporadic event until it returns full-time in 2010, the BBC has time to revamp the show's image and identity online.
The effectiveness of their efforts so far are debatable as they seem to be looking backward more than forward to the new Matt Smith/11th Doctor era.
For example, the re-engineered Doctor Who website added a blog by Davies in which he discusses the new David Tennant-voiced, 10th Doctor CGI cartoon, Dreamland.
Meanwhile, the producers of the behind-the-scenes series Doctor Who: Confidential have put together a new online series, Doctor Who's Greatest Moments. The problem is the series only recognizes the last four-plus years of the show. When you consider Who hit the air in 1963, it's a good bet more than a few "great moments" are being ignored if you're only looking back to Christopher Ecclestone's era (right).
Maybe the BBC should hold off on the claims of redesigned website for Who until they're ready to start unveiling more of the next era coming from show-runner Steven Moffat and Matt Smith.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-21-2009 @ 4:00PM
lkm said...
Well... I don't think "Doctor Who Confidential" existed before the Eccleston-Tennant era. So it's probably just an error in labeling - it's not the Doctor's "best" moments as much as it's the "best moments we have tape of" ;-)
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8-22-2009 @ 2:07PM
Rose said...
I've seen documentaries about the classic series before. they've said all there is to say about it. If I hear some of the anecdotes one more time, I'll scream. And i am a lifelong classic fan. So I'm not bothered about this retrospective on the past 4 years. What would be impressive, though, would be if they got an interview with Christopher Eccleston! Time he came out of the woodwork and acknowledged the best role he has ever played.
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8-22-2009 @ 7:05PM
RobynM said...
I haven't gone to look at the site revamp yet, but based on your description, I'm fine with it. With a new Doctor, new Companion and new showrunner, it's going to be a whole new ballgame. Given that, I'm certainly not going to begrudge them a few months of reminiscing before It All Changes.
Besides, David and Russ aren't out the door yet, so a Matt and Steven revamp at this point would be kind of a "here's your hat, where's your hurry" situation.
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8-23-2009 @ 11:18PM
Gene Cowan said...
Hmm.
The website looks exactly the same as it has for a couple years. Am I missing something?
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9-02-2009 @ 4:46AM
Stuart Ian Burns said...
Um, why would the BBC totally redesign the website now, with three final 10th Doctor specials to go and then have that new design still hanging around nearly nine months until the Moffat era begins?
The answer is that they haven't -- and haven't said they have. Simply shifted the architecture about a bit to accommodate the new blog about the animated series.
Makes more sense to relaunch a website when you have a new series, and rumoured new logo and title sequence finalised to work with. Which they presumably are.
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