[winnipegger @replies]

I’ll give you one example of something that may not have occurred to you. If you took a day off sick – would the entire project have to be rescheduled?

Some projects, yes. When I worked for New Flyer Industries, a company that manufactures city busses, the computers had to run or the entire production line would halt. My official hours were 7:00am to 4:00pm, but I often worked to 6:00pm, and came in for two or three hours every Saturday and Sunday as well. Just to ensure the computers ran smoothly. Actually, when two managers had a snit over who was in charge, I was ordered to not come in that weekend. The weekend that I was not there, the computers did fail. They had to go back to Thursday night’s backup, lost all data from Friday. And all weekend they tried to muddle along without the computer. Production was set way back. I got fired. The manager who ordered me to not come in that weekend got fired a month later, over Christmas.

I took 2 days sick time in 1988. A co-worker drove me from the office to hospital the first day. And a couple days in 1982 for minor surgery. That was scheduled months ahead of time, but I only took a couple days off. That’s it for my entire career.

[winnipegger @replies]

@bluesqueakpip

Only 8 episodes for 2013. Changing the name doesn’t change that fact. But since you bring it up, there were only 5 episodes for 2012. They were good ones, but you can hardly call this a series.

I have held many jobs in my time. One employer decided to outsource the computer department, another employer closed down due to competition. Then another had 3 full-size computer departments after a series of mergers, so closed the one in my city. I chose to become a contractor after all that. Never at any time did any employer allow me to stay on while I work for other employers. Why should these actors get away with failing to do their job due to moonlighting? And I have never gotten more than 2 weeks per year vacation. Contract positions only get statutory holidays, not a single day vacation. And that was when I was employed at all. After 32 years I’m trying to scrape by with a home business while seeking full-time employment. So I have short patience for someone who wants half a year or more vacation.

[winnipegger @replies]

@bluesqueakpip

Dropped from 39-45 episodes per season, down to 8, and you say this isn’t a problem?

[winnipegger @replies]

I would like to post this as a new topic in “General”, but it looks like a new account can’t do that. So I’ll post here.
 
Many of my friends are fans of Doctor Who. As am I. We all complain that the actor appears to be changing way too quickly. Checking history, latest actors haven’t changed more frequently; the problem is lack of episodes.
 
The first doctor lasted 3 seasons (years). The second also lasted 3 seasons. The next 5 seasons. Tom Baker actually lasted 7 seasons/years. Matt Smith lasted 4 seasons/years, so his tenure wasn’t actually shorter. The problem was lack of episodes.
 
The first season was November 1963 to September 1964. That season saw 42 episodes. Remember this is a weekly series, and there are 52 weeks per year. That pace was sustained through the second doctor: season 6 was 1968/’69 with 44 episodes. That number ticked down with Jon Pertwee: 25 to 26 episodes per season. That was maintained with Tom Baker: 26 episodes per season. He only made 20 his first season, and again 20 in 1979/’80, but he made up for it with 28 episodes in 1980/’81. Peter Davison also maintained that pace. Season 20 in 1983/’84 only saw 20 episodes, but made up for it with the 20th anniversary special that same year.
 
The problem started with season 21, 1984/’85. From 1984 through 1989, with Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy, production was reduced to 14 episodes per year. In fact, the first season with Colin Baker only saw 13 episodes. This resulted in series termination. Are producers reading this? Get the message: produce regular episodes or lose your audience.
 
When the series are resurrected in 2005, it was great! However, again doctors don’t seem to last. The problem is far too few episodes. In 2005 only 13 episodes. Ok that was the first season after the reboot. Then 14 episodes per year until July 2008. Then 5 specials from December 2008 through January 2010. Only 5 specials, no new episodes. Are you trying to kill it!?!?! With Matt Smith we got 13 episodes in 2010, a Christmas special, 13 episodes in 2011, another Christmas special, only 5 episodes for 2012, another Christmas special, then 8 episodes for 2013. There are 2 specials scheduled for this year: November will see the 50th anniversary special, then another Christmas special. But where are the episodes?
 
Tell you what. To keep Doctor Who alive, produce 26 episodes in 2014. That is still no where near the pace of William Hartnell or Patrick Troughton; they produced 39 to 45 episodes per season. Returning to 26 episodes per season is just what Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker, and Peter Davison did. We the fans *might* let you get away with only 22 episodes plus a Christmas special. That’s what you did in 1983.
 
From a business perspective: you really have to look at what you’re doing. From the beginning the business model for Doctor Who was to keep cost down. So even if audience share wasn’t huge, it was still profitable. Since 2005 the show has gone big budget. That’s risky. It can generate big profits, but also carries big risk. Doctor Who special effects were always low-budget, but carried the story. Modern computer graphics can do wonders with very little cost, as long as you know what you’re doing. The series Babylon 5 introduced the idea of a render farm with a large number of personal computers; Amiga at that time, but there are newer ones now. You don’t need a new TARDIS every season, just keep the same set each season. If you feel you need an update, do it only when you change actor. But seriously, how expensive is it to produce a full season of episodes every year with the same set? How much money are you saving by producing only 8 episodes? Or to put that in business terms: how much money are you losing by not having more episodes to sell?
 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Doctor_Who_serials

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