Danny Cohen told a Derbyshire media conference that Steven Moffat "needs enough time to get Sherlock done and then start work on the next series of Doctor Who".
But Steven Moffat later wrote on Twitter that scheduling of Doctor Who had "nothing to do with Sherlock".
source
I won't go over all we have said this week about what is becoming the Doctor Who 2012/13 farce, but it is looking that certain elements at the BBC are not singing from the same hymn book as Steven Moffat, so just who is to blame? Shouldn't they all get around a table and release a joint statement they all agree on? Perhaps Cohen has jumped the gun and announced something without all the facts?
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Did anyone catch the exchange between Gaiman & Moffat on Twitter today? Neil basically asks if The BBC is throwing Steven under the bus, and Steven responds that the BCC's comments are "Unbelievable, unacceptable."
http://twitter.com/steven_moffat/status/81625752746983425
it seems others are noticing it too, perhaps my other post about moff leaving may sadly come true :(
Actually that's not quite what Neil asked on Twitter,Raukodraug. He asked if the article on BBC online news had thrown Moffat under a bus.
A BBC Wales journalist, Darren Waters, then asked Moffat to elaborate on what was "unbelievable, unacceptable" to which Moffat replied, with my clarifications in brackets:
"[The BBC Controller was quoted] Out of context and [the article was] not being clear that he [the BBC Controller] was joking."
In other words, Moffat's passing this off as a storm in a teacup thanks to poor reporting.
but the poor reporting is coming from the bbc
And I'm not so sure it is poor reporting, at least not until we get some sort of definitive statement from both Moffat and the Beeb.
Oh, it doesn't answer the questions about the shenanigans around the next season of DW, I grant you.
But my point was that you two misread the Gaiman-Moffat Twitter discussion. Moffat was not complaining about what the BBC Controller said, but about the fact the article missed the all-important nuance of what the BBC Controller said. That's a big difference.
And believe me, a journalist can do a poor job even of reporting what his or her own boss says. I am a journo in a large organization (not the BBC) - it's hardly uncommon. While it doesn't rule out the conspiracy you're hinting at, Combom, it doesn't mean there is one.
Perhaps the rescheduling has something to do with the Olympic schedule as London is the host for the 2012 Summer games?
Moffat is very talented and his single episodes are amazing (and I hope he continues to write episodes for Doctor Who even after he leaves as show runner), but the way the entire series has been woven together even some Whovians are wondering what exactly is going on, and even more importantly I kind of don’t care what’s happening, and I know I’m not the only Whovian who feels this way.
If Moffat leaves and concentrates on Sherlock (my favorite), I hope the BBC temporarily (at least for one series), asks Russell T. Davis back since he's a proven commodity (Tennant specials aside). At least until they can find another show runner.
BBC America Speaks to it:
http://blogs.bbcamerica.com/anglophenia/2011/06/17/steven-moffat-doctor-who-scheduling-is-not-affected-by-sherlock/
We’re all fans of quality British TV, right? We like a bit of Doctor Who, we like a bit of Sherlock, and we realise that making shows of that kind of quality is incredibly hard work.
So it can’t just be me that was wondering about the pressure of being the Executive Producer on both of those programmes, and whether the job of getting one of them flying has some kind of effect on the other. It’s a question that only Steven Moffat can answer.
Fortunately, he has.
We start with a speech at the recent Church and Media Conference, where BBC One controller Danny Cohen was discussing the fact that Doctor Who will not run for a full series in 2012. Instead, the 14 episodes that the BBC has commissioned will be spread out into 2013.
BBC News reports that he said Steven “needs enough time to get [Sherlock] done and then start work on the next series of Doctor Who. So there will be [Doctor Who] episodes, but not as many.”
And apparently the reason for this is that Steven has needs. Real human needs: “There’s only so many hours a day he can be awake. The man has to sleep and eat, and he’s got a family.
“Steven Moffat is the creative driving force behind Doctor Who. He also, rather magically at the same time, created and got to air Sherlock. So we have to get that balance right.”
Which, actually sounds fair enough, on the face of it. And it possibly would be, except that, as far as Steven is concerned, it’s not true.
Taking to Twitter to make his case, Steven said: “The scheduling of Dr Who has got NOTHING to do with Sherlock.”
He explained that Danny’s comments were made largely in jest, as a way of asking people not to expect miracles on a weekly basis, rather than a worry that production on either show would suffer because of the other.
And, ending with a zinger, he said: “On the plus side THE BBC SPELLED MY NAME RIGHT!!!!”
well, yeah, of course that's what BBCA is going to say. however we have yet to have any kind of clarification re: the remarks by the BBC, and i'm not quite so sure it was all a joke.
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