I'd say there's a 99.999% chance it'll get picked up in some form by a US TV network. Dr Who drew audiences bigger than Lost has in the UK - it's one of the first genre shows I've seen for a long time to be so very mainstream.

gossi | December 01, 18:13 CET

Dr Who has been a staple of PBS programming for years. If not picked up by Sci-Fi, PBS will probably get it.

RavenU | December 01, 19:38 CET

The BBC probably made the decision to release the DVDs in the States the same time as they are being released in Canada to prevent "cross border shopping" as much as anything else.

Ruadh | December 01, 20:05 CET

Very much enjoyed the new series with Eccleston and looking forward to DT's run on it and ASH's guest stint. Was so hoping that the rumours about ASH being the Master would be true, but one can't have everything.

zeitgeist | December 01, 20:14 CET

Apparantly Anthony Head plays a dark character, so you never know, when they eventually come to casting the Master they might think "Hey, Tony Head was good, lets bring him back". Probably not but it would be good.

Don't the BBC own BBC America, I would have thought that rather than release the episodes straight to DVD and later on TV they would have shown it there if there was noone else interested.

24 days, 2 hours, 9 minutes, 18 seconds to go.

[ edited by Ghost Spike on 2005-12-01 18:50 ]

Ghost Spike | December 01, 20:50 CET

Hmmm, Dr Who is a show that i really cannot find any interest in. I hated the old series with a passion and when it began again, despite giving it a fair chance to impress at the request of a friend of mine, it again failed to hold my attention. I'm sorry but Eccleston is highly overrated, from what i have seen, and i found his take on the Doctor to be incredibly irritating. My one reason to stick with the show was the lovely Billie Piper, but even she couldn't keep me watching for more than five or six weeks.

I'm glad for all the Dr Who fans that the show has become such a success but it won't be on my must watch list, i'm afraid.

Buffysmglover | December 01, 20:51 CET

Eccleston is the guy from Cracker, right? I liked him in that, and all my online friends rave about Dr. Who. Might be worth a looksee.

And the Troika liked it, so...that's something.

Rogue Slayer | December 01, 21:02 CET

Rogue Slayer: "And the Troika liked it, so...that's something."

Taking into account that one third of the Troika was a murdering, sexually depraved psycho and another third murdered his best friend in cold blood, i'd take their recommendations with a pinch of salt, if i were you! :P

Buffysmglover | December 01, 21:06 CET

Where is BBC America broadcast? I did not even know such a thing existed. ...or is it a company set up to sell BBC shows to American stations?

Most British series show up on Public Broadcasting stations if at all. That is where the old Dr. Who was shown back in the Stone Age. I caught parts of it, and enjoyed them (though I don't remember the bad robot-guys whose names start with D that everybody talks about.) I would be curious to see the new one.

newcj | December 01, 21:34 CET

BBC America is a network. It's available on a lot of the more comprehensive cable packages.

PBS can't afford the new Dr. Who. As for Sci-Fi, they've probably got enough on their plate with BSG and the SGs.

KernelM | December 01, 22:08 CET

Sci-Fi having a deal with BSkyB probably factors into that, too. BBCA plays on bigger cable systems and on satellite.

newcj - Daleks.

Vampire With A Gun - :) They were also a way for the writers to geek out about things they liked, so :P

zeitgeist | December 01, 22:42 CET

I thought that newcj was talking about the Decepticons.

Oh, Dr Who thread ... right! :)

Buffysmglover | December 01, 22:48 CET

I think I was talking about the Daleks, but I don't remember the Decepticans either so you both win. ;-) Thanks.

Hmmmm. BBC America is not on my cable system in the metro NYC area...unless it comes with a package of the premier stations like HBO, which are too expensive for my blood.

newcj | December 01, 22:58 CET

The thing that kills me is the DVD will be released in the US with a suggested retail price of just under $100. Does the BBC not realize that television seasons on DVD cost much less than that on DVD in the US?

theonetruebix | December 01, 23:12 CET

Well, it costs forty nine GBP on Amazon UK for the r2 box which is about seventy eight USD, so... p.s. VWAG was making Transformers references in a Doctor Who thread and therefore is double-plus wrong :)

zeitgeist | December 01, 23:17 CET

The new series of Doctor Who was fantastic. Loved it to bits. Probably the only decent show that can be said to be post-Buffy.

Simon | December 01, 23:35 CET

Hey! Nothing wrong with making the odd Transformers reference here and there, zeitgeist. Brings back some very fond childhood memories, that does! :)

Simon, just wondered what you meant by Doctor Who being the only post-Buffy show to be decent. Surely there is an argument to be made for the likes of Lost, 24, Battlestar Galactica and Stargate Atlantis. All very good, very popular and all began well after Buffy.

Buffysmglover | December 02, 00:37 CET

When I say post-Buffy, I'm placing it in the context of a show being directly influenced by Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Russell T Davies (Doctor Who's head honcho) has gone on record about how he was influenced by Joss and co and what they did in Buffy.

Simon | December 02, 00:40 CET

Okay, now i get what you mean. Yeah, in that case i would have to agree, at least as far as his intent goes anyway. I have read several articles in various magazines stating that Davies was a fan of Joss' work and had definately allowed it to influence his show.

However, i must admit that i was never able to really get that Joss vibe from the episodes of Doctor Who that i did watch. Maybe i just wasn't paying enough attention but i couldn't see where other people were getting the idea that Doctor Who had a "Whedonesque" style to it. It just never presented itself that way to me.

Ah well, i do intend to give the next new Doctor a trial run and i'm a much bigger fan of Tennant than i am of Eccleston. Maybe i'll see it more in the new series.

Buffysmglover | December 02, 00:57 CET

I'm really stoked to see that Steve Moffat will be back for S2 (writer of The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances and, of course, the show Coupling).

zeitgeist | December 02, 01:21 CET

BBC America exists if you subscribe to digital cable. On my cable service it's channel 106. And it has some great shows.

angel fan | December 02, 02:10 CET

While I am aware that Russell T Davies is a great admirer of the work of Joss Whedon, I would agree with Vampire With A Gun that the new Dr Who didn't have any obvious 'Buffy' or Whedonesque vibe to it, which is not to say he didn't derive some inspiration from JW's work. What Davies did do successfully was update the show without losing its essence and he did it brilliantly, aided by his co-writers and by the excellent lead cast. It resulted in a show that pleased most old fans (like myself) and found a new audience, no mean feat when dealing with a show with such an illustrious history.

alien lanes | December 02, 04:07 CET