'Doctor Who' returns to BBC America on April 23
New season to air in two chunks; no UK premiere date yet
Karen Gillan as "Doctor Who" sidekick Amy Pond.
Been a busy day for BBC America news, first with the announcement that Idris Elba will be back for another season of "Luther," and now with a premiere date for the new season of "Doctor Who."
As first reported by Entertainment Weekly, the new batch of episodes - starring Matt Smith as the time-traveling Doctor and Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill as his newlywed sidekicks - will debut on this side of the Atlantic on Saturday, April 23 at 9 p.m.
Interestingly, the news comes before BBC One in the UK has announced its own "Doctor Who" premiere date; all they've said so far is that it will be back in April, and that the season will be split in two because of a plot development producer Steven Moffat wants to introduce halfway through. In seasons past, episodes debuted in England weeks or even months before they came to the States, leading many American fans to just illegally download the episodes. But the most recent Christmas special aired in both the US and the UK on the same day, and it's in BBC America's best interest (if not in its sister channel across the pond) for that kind of scheduling to continue so they don't lose viewers to BitTorrent.
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Login or create a HitFix account Login Signupr1pvanw1nkl3
March 9, 2011 at 4:12PM EST Reply to CommentI
CANT
WAIT
especially for Neil Gaiman's episode, which is supposed to air 4th this season
rachelmed
March 9, 2011 at 4:18PM EST Reply to CommentI wish it would start a little sooner but I am so excited for this season! Hopefully they keep the same schedule as the UK because I hate being spoiled and much prefer watching it on my tv the first time.
Matthew
March 9, 2011 at 4:36PM EST Reply to CommentIt usually starts over the Easter weekend in the UK which is the same weekend as this date, but it's always on here on a Saturday, so I guess the US will be getting it a day later. Pretty cool.
Dave S
March 9, 2011 at 4:43PM EST Reply to CommentApril 23rd is Saturday, not Sunday.
sepinwall Ah, yes. So it is. Somehow I stared at the word Saturday in the BBC's e-mail and saw it as Sunday. Fixed.
March 9, 2011 at 4:45PM EST
March 9, 2011 at 4:49PM EST Reply to CommentI still have to pirate it if I want HD.
Lance
March 9, 2011 at 4:51PM EST Reply to CommentDoes BBCA air the full or cutdown versions of the episodes? I remember when SciFi had the reairs a few years back they'd do cutdown versions. Even if it's same day, I'd rather see the proper episode than one that's had parts hacked off of it.
Dave S BBC America shows the original length on first broadcasts, though with commercials inserted. They sometimes edit down on later day rebroadcasts.
March 9, 2011 at 5:01PM ESTEd G.
March 9, 2011 at 5:31PM EST Reply to CommentWhoo Who!!!!
Loretta
March 9, 2011 at 5:34PM EST Reply to CommentGreat news! Only about 6 weeks to wait. With A Game of Thrones starting only a week or so earlier, it's looking to be a good Spring/Summer for my TV enjoyment (well, provided A Game of Thrones turns out to be good).
KatD
March 9, 2011 at 5:43PM EST Reply to CommentWrite a comment...
KatD
March 9, 2011 at 5:44PM EST Reply to CommentExcellent news. So glad they finally figured out we'll watch legally if they give the show to us at the same time.
Kensington Yup. The Christmas episode was the first episode I didn't feel compelled to download since 2005. It was nice.
March 10, 2011 at 1:34PM ESTbusikier
March 9, 2011 at 6:23PM EST Reply to CommentYay! The 12 year old's relentless demands for an air date end.
MatthewL
March 9, 2011 at 8:06PM EST Reply to CommentHaving just finished listening to this week's podcast, where the discussion of TV scores that we love came up, I just wanted to point to Murray Gold's score for Doctor Who. Listening to the soundtrack albums, I'm always astonished at just how much variety there is in Gold's compositions - which makes sense, since there are few shows that have the potential for variety as Doctor Who.
So one of the most exciting things for me about the new season, in addition to seeing what new surprises Moffat will be giving us, is the prospect of hearing Gold's new work. Which will be great.
J The music is consistently the worst thing about the show. It's like RTD at his most bombastic pounded out in pure aural form. There was at least some restraint shown in "Blink," so I had hopes Moffat's run would come with directions to tone the crap down. But no, the music was an insulting, obvious blare all the way through Season Five.
March 9, 2011 at 9:18PM ESTMatthewL Oh, as with anything in Who, Murray Gold's score is incredibly divisive among fans. For every person who absolutely adores Gold's work, there is someone else who thinks it's an abomination. And I can understand why people would describe it as 'bombastic'; it's certainly not subtle music. But when we see the images of all ten Doctors on screen, from Hartnell to Tennant, and then Matt Smith walks through the image - that's not a subtle moment, and having I Am The Doctor burst into force at that moment is an absolutely perfect addition that to me just makes me sit in awe of what I'm watching.
March 9, 2011 at 11:14PM ESTI listen to the old Doctor's theme, or the Songs of Captivity and Freedom, or All The Strange Strange Creatures, or This Is Gallifrey, or Vale Dacem, or I Am The Doctor, or The Sad Man With A Box, and I genuinely can't understand people not loving it. I really do feel that this is remarkable music, that is always in line with the emotional tone being expressed.
And it's a lot better than anything Keff McCulloch gave us.
Hemlin
March 10, 2011 at 4:11AM EST Reply to CommentIts good to see how transatlantic channels are progessively wising up to the idea of closing down the cap between airdates. Game of Thrones is going to air near simultanously in the US and UK.
joe
March 10, 2011 at 6:51PM EST Reply to Commentvery excited, but I don't watch BBC America since I don't have that in HD and I'm not wasting my time watching shows in standard definition
nole9
March 10, 2011 at 9:42PM EST Reply to CommentNeed some help here, hearing all the good word about DH, what do I need to know to start watching? Could I start here? When Matt Smith became the Doctor?
I don't know anything about the show.
Thanks.
sepinwall That's a pretty logical, easy starting place. I think it's not hard to jump in with the debut of any of the modern Doctors, but with Smith you get a cleaner break from the previous two Doctors thanks to the new showrunner, and you have fewer episodes to have to catch up on.
March 10, 2011 at 9:47PM ESTnole9 Thank you
March 11, 2011 at 11:24PM ESTPatrick
March 12, 2011 at 8:34AM EST Reply to CommentThere's actually a reason the UK premiere dates come very late - traditionally, the Beeb waits until the last minute (in Doctor Who's case, slightly over three weeks out) to announce specific transmission dates. And that's because of the Radio Times' three week lead time for print. (Do ITV and other non-BBC channels also follow this peculiar practice?)