Quick things about the BBC:
The BBC is funded exclusively by a licence fee paid for the ownership of television sets (about $150 once a year per household). These payments are structured in such a way so that they never pass through the government's pockets at all. Thus, the BBC is publicly funded but not subject to pressure or control from the government.
The BBC do, however, have a Royal Charter that sets out the terms and conditions of their 'contract' with the British public. This is renegotiated every couple of decades or so with the public's representatives (the government) and this is the only time the govt get a chance to still their oar in and screw things up. Mainly, however, the Charter merely compels the BBC to a certain level of quality, to be free of commercial interference (ads and product placement are strictly banned by the charter) to be representative of the british public (so if the were as curiously white and straight as the WB they'd get into trouble) and to provide quality programming that serves all walks of life.
Basically, since everybody pays for it, the BBC have an obligation to make sure nobody can credibly say "I never watch it because there's never anything on it for me." So while many independent networks may identify a demographic that will yield the greatest profit and chase it, the BBC are obliged to appeal to all demographics equally during the week. This often throws up such curiosities as a sketch show specifically aimed at the British-Asian sense of humour; hours and hours of shows about antiques; religious programming that includes both priests and rabbis and mullahs at different points. And they have daily programming with sign language for the deaf, and Audio Description for the blind.
As for the length of seasons in the UK. Well, it's not a budget issue at all (after all, 6 weeks of one show and 6 weeks of another will actually be slightly more expensive than 12 weeks of just one). Traditionally, BBC shows are the brainchild of a single writer who then writes all the episodes. Large writing teams like on American networks are practically unheard of. Six to eight episodes is just about the limit that one writer can turn out on one subject in one year and still maintain the quality so that's how long a series usually is. The BBC is also unlike US networks in that 'hiatus' often means exactly that -- it's not a euphamism for cancelled. Some BBC shows can go for several years without a new episode being made until the writer involved had an idea for one he wants to do.
In the case of Doctor Who, RTD originally expected a run of six to eight episodes to be commissioned and was going to write them all himself. When the BBC asked for thirteen, though, he asked other writers to join him. It's probably not practical to try and increase the number of episodes any further since a lot of care and attention is paid to each one and it takes 8 months a year to make 14! Any more and the cast and crew would never get a break! Plus, of course, the BBC don't give much of a damn about syndication rights so aren't obsessed with getting up to the magic 100 episode limit as quickly as they can.
The BBC is funded exclusively by a licence fee paid for the ownership of television sets (about $150 once a year per household). These payments are structured in such a way so that they never pass through the government's pockets at all. Thus, the BBC is publicly funded but not subject to pressure or control from the government.
The BBC do, however, have a Royal Charter that sets out the terms and conditions of their 'contract' with the British public. This is renegotiated every couple of decades or so with the public's representatives (the government) and this is the only time the govt get a chance to still their oar in and screw things up. Mainly, however, the Charter merely compels the BBC to a certain level of quality, to be free of commercial interference (ads and product placement are strictly banned by the charter) to be representative of the british public (so if the were as curiously white and straight as the WB they'd get into trouble) and to provide quality programming that serves all walks of life.
Basically, since everybody pays for it, the BBC have an obligation to make sure nobody can credibly say "I never watch it because there's never anything on it for me." So while many independent networks may identify a demographic that will yield the greatest profit and chase it, the BBC are obliged to appeal to all demographics equally during the week. This often throws up such curiosities as a sketch show specifically aimed at the British-Asian sense of humour; hours and hours of shows about antiques; religious programming that includes both priests and rabbis and mullahs at different points. And they have daily programming with sign language for the deaf, and Audio Description for the blind.
As for the length of seasons in the UK. Well, it's not a budget issue at all (after all, 6 weeks of one show and 6 weeks of another will actually be slightly more expensive than 12 weeks of just one). Traditionally, BBC shows are the brainchild of a single writer who then writes all the episodes. Large writing teams like on American networks are practically unheard of. Six to eight episodes is just about the limit that one writer can turn out on one subject in one year and still maintain the quality so that's how long a series usually is. The BBC is also unlike US networks in that 'hiatus' often means exactly that -- it's not a euphamism for cancelled. Some BBC shows can go for several years without a new episode being made until the writer involved had an idea for one he wants to do.
In the case of Doctor Who, RTD originally expected a run of six to eight episodes to be commissioned and was going to write them all himself. When the BBC asked for thirteen, though, he asked other writers to join him. It's probably not practical to try and increase the number of episodes any further since a lot of care and attention is paid to each one and it takes 8 months a year to make 14! Any more and the cast and crew would never get a break! Plus, of course, the BBC don't give much of a damn about syndication rights so aren't obsessed with getting up to the magic 100 episode limit as quickly as they can.
I cant wait that long!!! I need a Dr Who now!! *hyperventilates*
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