Why are the seasons of the new series called series?

[Col. Newman]

Why are the seasons of the new series called series? It doesn't make any sense at least to me. But that is how they are referred to on wiki. See

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Doctor_Who_serials

[Madeleine]

All British programmes are made in series. We never use the word 'season' for a single programme, although we might use the term to describe a spell of themed programmes on a channel ("... and now BBC3 continues its Mozart Season with a performance of The Magic Flute")

[Col. Newman]

ooo ok so it's a British thing

[Reefgirl]

To echo Madeleine, were British it's always been called a series and always will be, Seasons are American for series

[Willow'sCat]

ooo ok so it's a British thing

And we (the fans posting in this section at the time) took a semi-formal vote on what to call them before Darren agreed to make the episode threads and Series won. That is also why the number's are 27,28,29.

[Col. Newman]

And we (the fans posting in this section at the time) took a semi-formal vote on what to call them before Darren agreed to make the episode threads and Series won. That is also why the number's are 27,28,29.

So then what do you call the whole show (series in US)? Just Show?

[Reefgirl]

So then what do you call the whole show (series in US)? Just Show?

An Episode is what we call one 'Show'

[Col. Newman]

An Episode is what we call one 'Show'

Ok so

US -------- UK
Series ----- ?????
Season ---- Series
Episode ---- Show

[Madeleine]

Series --- we say programme, or show
Season --- we say series
Episode --- we say episode, or show, or programme.

But it doesn't really matter that some terms overlap, we can always tell what we mean.

[Willow'sCat]

So then what do you call the whole show (series in US)? Just Show?

Well I am Australian, so I tend to go with what the country of origin wants to go with, so if it is from the US I would call it a TV Show and refer to season's like SGA is in its 4th season.

If it is from the UK I would say series. I also use the word programme for what the US would call a show, although that is not as common a term anymore in Australia. We unfortunately tend to buy into Americanisms (no offence) so many people just assume there is no other term for a TV show (US), then TV show.

But as long as you know what you mean, I don't see that it really matters. It only matters when others want to force their terminology onto you.

Hence the semi-formal vote we had.

[AvatarIII]

Well I am Australian, so I tend to go with what the country of origin wants to go with, so if it is from the US I would call it a TV Show and refer to season's like SGA is in its 4th season.

If it is from the UK I would say series. I also use the word programme for what the US would call a show, although that is not as common a term anymore in Australia. We unfortunately tend to buy into Americanisms (no offence) so many people just assume there is no other term for a TV show (US), then TV show.

But as long as you know what you mean, I don't see that it really matters. It only matters when others want to force their terminology onto you.

Hence the semi-formal vote we had.

To be fair, i'm from England and i call seasons of US shows; seasons, and series' of British programmes; series'. for the greater mass i will say "series" or "programme", and for an episode i'd say episode

[ecchi]

To be fair, i'm from England and i call seasons of US shows; seasons, and series' of British programmes; series'. for the greater mass i will say "series" or "programme", and for an episode i'd say episode

I'm from England too, I used to stubbornly use the British method, but at about the same time as I discovered this board I decided I was being pig headed and probably confusing the Americans. So with this board I started using the American conventions. Now I find out that before I got here you all had a vote and decided to rule for the British method. (Ecchi sighs and goes of mumbling "that's the story of my life".)

[Willow'sCat]

Well considering when this section started Doctor Who was not screening in the US (well not the new series) it seemed more practical to forget GW is American I would say at the time a greater percentage of viewers posting in this section back in 2005 were from the UK, some from Australia and a few from Canada... after the US started screening it (rather late in what? 2006?) this section did get more US traffic.

But whether GW is American or not (Outpost Gallifrey is/was American afterall) the BBC do say series. Of course they also say series 1,2,3 but no one is perfect.

[any_gopher]

I've always found this kind of thing really interesting. About two years ago I went on a trip with my university marching band to London, and I got tripped up a few times by the dialect barrier, but not as bad as a few of my friends.

A friend of mine ordered a root beer in a restaurant, and the brought out draft beer. Do you guys have root beer over there?

I enjoyed the people and smells of London a WHOLE lot more than Springfield, MO by FAR.

[ecchi]

A friend of mine ordered a root beer in a restaurant, and the brought out draft beer. Do you guys have root beer over there?

No root beer. But judging by the only time I tried it, we are lucky. That stuff is just plain nasty.

The other thing you should have tried is Smarties. Same name, totally different candy.

But my favourite difference is "fanny". Don't ever say that over here, it means something totally different over here, and is the sort of word you cannot say on TV before 9pm.

(P.S. I use a spell checker on all my posts, but you might notice a few things you think are spelling mistakes in it, such as "favourite" in this post, that is because I use an British spell checker. )