50 Years of Media

Convergence:Doctor Who?

SAE Institute LjubljanaHrvoje HrstoStudent number: 10280Date of submission: 28 January 2014BAP 1113Word count: 2,200

Abstract

On 23 November of 1963, one show emerged on the BBC programme that eventually became one of the most recognized british pop culture icons. “Doctor Who” revolves around humanoid alien from the race of Time Lords, that have an ability to completely regenerate themselves, with new looks and a new personality. Our hero, called the Doctor, is a time-traveller, and often takes companions to travel with him in his sentient time-traveling machine called TARDIS. His real name is never revealed and the question “Doctor Who?” became one of the main mysteries.

Initially it was aimed at a family audience with an educational note. While traveling to the past, education would be focused on history. During travels to the future or outer space, show would explore the world of science. Over time, show developed its own mythology, expanded beyond education and it evolved into fantasy, science-fiction and story telling series.

Today, Doctor Who is considered one of the cult television shows. There were times when franchise had huge audience and it was unstoppable juggernaut on television and in media. But there were also times when the television show was off the air, and franchise lived only because of the hard-core fans in right places. In this paper I will show what actions and how exactly media convergence shaped Doctor Who.

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Table of contentsAbstract! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! I

Table of Contents! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! II

1. Introduction! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 1

2. Beginning and the Expansion of the Story! ! ! ! 2

3. Convergence and Years Without Television Series! ! ! 3

! 3.1. Cancellation of the Television Show ! ! ! ! 3

! 3.2. Licensing! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 3

4. Failing to Relaunch! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 4

5. Modern Who and Transmedia Storytelling! ! ! ! 5

! 5.1. 2005 Relaunch! ! ! ! ! ! ! 5

! 5.2. Meta-textual Sites! ! ! ! ! ! ! 5

! 5.3. Short Movies! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 6

! 5.4. Memes!! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 6

! 5.3. Spin-offs! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 7

6. Conclusion! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 8

References!! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 9

Bibliography ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 11

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1. Introduction

Media convergence was and still is a big part of Doctor Who. Show’s main character changes and regenerates, which is a clever way to incorporate recasting of a new actor in the Doctor’s role. In a similar way, the narrative changes and yet stays the same with spreading over to the books, internet, mobile platforms, spin-off shows, radio dramas, memes and other media.

Throughout this paper, I will showcase how, where and when did Doctor Who as a franchise developed and utilized transmedia storytelling, sometimes to its benefit, sometimes not. Its 50 years long history is excellent example of how a specific program aimed at a certain fan-base can become loved part of the mainstream media. I will also show that loyal and involved fan base can be both an advantage and a disadvantage for a franchise, and that not all media convergence strategies are always successful.

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2. Beginning and the Expansion of the Story

It took only one year, during the series original run (further in the text: Classic Who) for franchise to begin expanding to other media outside the television. Doctor Who Annual was published under three different names and in three different time frames (1964-1986, 1992-1996 and 2005-present). Also novelizations of the television episodes were published (1973-1991), that often expanded on the episodes. There were also several comic strips, radio adventures, audio records and two feature films, but all of these could not be put in the convergence sphere because they simply repeated stories with minimal expansion or strayed a lot form the narrative. They cannot be considered canon.

The problem was that there was little or no collaboration between BBC and other publishers. Non-BBC media often contradicted the television show or heavily distorted the narrative. These stories are often placed outside the canon universe, but they cannot be referred as illegal or fan fiction. Lines between cannon and non-cannon are blurry when it comes to Doctor Who Universe (further in text: DWU). Franchise is primarily owned by BBC. However, certain elements within it are owned by individual authors, for example characters like the Brigadier, or the Doctor’s enemies the Daleks. Tim Martin et al. (2013) reported that Daleks almost did not appear in the 2005 revival because of the copyright dispute, that was later settled. BBC never officially marked what elements are cannon, so in short, DWU cannot have canon.

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3. Convergence and Years Without Television Series

! 3.1. Cancellation of the Television Show

During the second half of the 1980s, Doctor Who series experienced a major decline in viewership and it was cancelled in 1989, during the Seventh Doctor. There are still debates on why that happened, and it is mostly blamed on franchise becoming a niche product for had-core fans. End of television show was the time when the real media convergence of the franchise started. The era between cancellation of the Classic Who series and relaunching of the modern series (further in the text: Modern Who) is referred to as Interregnum.

! 3.2. Licensing

During Interregnum BBC decided to license the property of Doctor Who to Virgin Publishing in 1990. Major difference between other franchises’ similar attempts of licensing, was that Virgin Publishing had an open submission policy. That meant that anyone, with or without professional writing background, could submit stories and contribute to the official DWU. One major advantage was the collaboration of the authors. Majority of authors were fans of the show and they connected through different communication channels. That connection grew stronger with the development and usage of the internet which resulted in continuity and consistency in the franchise storytelling.

All of that, plus financial success of the novels pushed BBC to another licensing deal. Rights to original audio dramas was sold to Big Finish in 1999, company packed with Doctor Who fans who built up on the Virgin Publishing’s stories. “Fans became the custodians of the Doctor Who legacy, safeguarding it and expanding it until the time was right for the TV show to reemerge...” (Robb 2010).

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4. Failing to Relaunch

There was an attempt of relaunching television show in 1996 with a televised movie that was intended as a backdoor television pilot. It was British-American-Canadian production, but its ratings were not good for USA television standards, so series was not picked up. Although the movie is canonical, it is also one of the best examples of storytelling controversy. Doctor, an alien, said that he was half-human. That attempt at literally humanizing him, is considered as a lie told by Doctor himself. In Modern Who, it is often said that “Doctor lies”, mostly to protect someone or something, which is another convenient case of disregarding errors in storytelling. Martin (2013) argued that this relaunch failed because the producers had little idea of how the show would look beyond the movie and that it had too much history which was overwhelming for the new viewers. However, before the second and successful relaunch of television show in 2005, several things happened.

During the early 2000s, BBC Online devoted time and money to develop its brand’s products. That included cult television programs among whom was Doctor Who. At first it only had archive of photographs and production information, but it quickly developed content. Developed as a play for BBC Radio 4, Death Comes to Time was repurposed to become a webcast internet drama. Sylvester McCoy reprised his role as Seventh Doctor, and series of illustrations were added to it, in attempt to disguise its radio origins. Experiment was a success, so two more webcasts followed. There were also several adventures of Eight Doctor, introduced in 1996 television film, both in print and audio media. In 2003, another webcast was produced, Scream of the Shalka, but that one featured completely new Ninth Doctor, voiced by Richard E. Grant. However, relaunch of 2005 series featured Christopher Eccleston as the definite Ninth Doctor, so Grant’s portrayal of the Doctor is now referred as the Shalka Doctor and its place in the DWU is unspecified. We can count its errors in different media, but Doctor Who franchise was everything but dormant during Interregnum.

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5. Modern Who and Transmedia Storytelling

! 5.1. 2005 Relaunch

In 2005, Doctor Who was successfully relaunched as television series, but this time franchise went under a small reboot. Unlike the 1996 attempt, 2005 relaunch had a plot device that allowed viewers to watch the new series, without any previous knowledge about the Classic Who. That was the Time War, a plot device that explained that all of the Time Lords and Daleks were killed, and the Doctor was the sole survivor. With time, series reintroduced some of the elements from the Classic Who era, but that fresh start is often attributed as the main vantage for attracting new viewers, unfamiliar with the franchise. Show’s executive producer at the time said it best: “When it blazed back into life on March 26 2005, an entire generation remembered. ‘Oh yes, we love this,’ they said, as though coming out of a fog. And a whole new generation said: ‘Wow!’ ” (Davies 2009 [online]).

! 5.2. Meta-textual Sites

Production team behind the relaunched series utilized other media to expand DWU, enabling the audience a two way interaction. One of them was setting up different websites and blogs. These meta-textual sites were set up by the BBC, to extend audience’s experience through pictures, information, flash games and so-called easter eggs. First site that was set up weeks prior to the series’ relaunch was Who is Doctor Who?. It achieved wider popularity after the first episode when it appeared on-screen. As the show evolved, so did the site that got renamed and filled with additional information. There were also other sites. More popular ones are, the site for the the U.N.I.T., abbreviation for United Nations Intelligence Taskforce, a military organization that the Doctor works for, and now defunct site for the Torchwood, organization founded to protect Great Britain from extraterrestrial threats. Fans were encouraged to engage, however, all of the information and comments left by the fans were filtered by the BBC, so there is a certain doubt how engaged the fans really were and how much of it was a BBC production.

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One of the major problems that occurred for the official meta-sites was creation of the unofficial meta-sites by the fans. BBC tried to control that by buying domains (for example www.torchwood.net) but number of unofficial sites still grew. Status that the site was or was not produced by the BBC did not have much influence on site’s popularity. However, information on the official meta-sites was never crucial for the television show. Viewers could watch the show and not miss anything essential from the plot, so they can be enjoyed as an extra content, rather than necessary one.

! 5.3. Short Movies

Other means of engaging the viewers was through producing short movies, called TARDISodes. They were available online or through the mobile phones, usually intros or fake reports that lead up to a certain episode. That was the main transmedia strategy for the series two. They were released about a week before the episode and made available free on the internet, or for a fee for mobile phones. While TARDISodes performed well on the internet, they failed on mobile platforms. Main reason for small number of downloads for mobile platforms were fees and incompatibility with the certain mobile phones. The concept of short movies lived behind the second series, for example The Night of the Doctor, prequel to the 50th anniversary movie special. Paul McGann reprised his role as Eight Doctor from 1996 television movie, and it was used to fill the story gap between his, and the Doctor’s next regeneration.

! 5.4. Memes

Main cross-media engagement for fans of Modern Who is presented through repeated memes. It is one consistently repeated code phrase that will eventually lead to a over-arching mystery that would be revealed at the end of each series. Bad Wolf was the first meme from the first series of Modern Who. Sometimes the phrase would be written or said discreetly, sometimes obvious, but the question of what or who Bad Wolf is intrigued fans and discussions raged over the internet. It was revealed in the last episode of the first series that

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the Bad Wolf was Rose, Doctor’s companion. It was a paradox and a reminder for her, from her, that she can use TARDIS to save the Doctor. This revelation was greeted with mixed reactions from the fans, but it was intriguing enough to permanently implement memes in the show. Other examples are Impossible Girl for second part of series seven, Mister Saxon for series three, or Torchwood for series two.

! 5.5. Spin-offs

Torchwood, anagram of Doctor Who, became more than just a meme. It was part of an elaborate plan to expand DWU with two more shows that followed Doctor’s ex companions: Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures. Torchwood followed Jach Harkness and it was aimed at older viewers with more gore and sex, while The Sarah Jane Adventures targeted younger viewers and followed the titular heroine. “This is due to the fact that Doctor Who enjoys a fairly unique audience demographic, boasting as it does a core audience of 30–45-year-old fans who watched the original series when they were young, as well as a large number of children who have discovered the programme during the 2005 relaunch.” (Perryman 2009, p 486.)

Although there were some minor factual errors, none of the shows contradicted the other. Eventually both spin-offs were cancelled, but during their airing in 2006/7, meme Vote Saxon was spread through all three shows. However, there was no over arching story for all three shows, because producers thought that it would be too complicated and impractical to have transmedia storyline connecting adult Torchwood and prepubescent The Sarah Jane Adventures.

2013 marked fiftieth anniversary, and special called The Day of the Doctor was aired. It was first story shot in stereoscopic 3D. Sweney (2013) reported that it was certified by the Guinness Book of World Records as largest ever simulcast of a television drama. It was aired on television and cinemas in 94 countries worldwide at the same time, proving that different time zones do not mean much to the audience, just like they do not mean much to the time traveling Doctor.

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6. Conclusion

Doctor Who is a franchise that embraced media convergence since its early days, but it is best shown in the Modern Who era. In most cases that convergence was successful, but sometimes it was not. In many instances it produced many factual errors and inconsistencies in the storytelling. However, most of the time, it succeeded in providing satisfactory content for both mainstream audience and hardcore fans. It embraced cultural and technical evolution, providing immersive and extended multimedia experiences for active participants, and at the same time not taking away anything crucial for passive viewers of the television show.

As for BBC, it showed that transmedia storytelling can be very effective in terms of production costs, and audience involvement. It became sovereign example of transmedia storytelling that is also economically viable for manufacturers of the Doctor Who products. The only question that remain is: will media convergence prevent franchise from becoming a niche product for had-core fans like it did in the 1980‘s or will it merely speed up the process?

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References

BBC Online (2005) Defending the Earth! Because friends stick together. Available at: http://www.whoisdoctorwho.co.uk (Accessed: 26 January 2014).

BBC Online (2007) TOP SECRET: Unit. Available at: http://www.unit.org.uk (Accessed: 26 January 2014).

Davies, R.T. (2009) “‘Doctor Who’s given me the time of my life’ - Russell T Davies on leaving Doctor Who”, The Telegraph, 18 December [online]. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/seasonal-culture/6840859/Doctor-Whos-given-me-the-time-of-my-life-Russell-T-Davies-on-leaving-Doctor-Who.html (Accessed: 26 January 2014).

Martin, D. (2013) “The TV movie: Doctor Who classic episode #17”, The Guard ian TV&Rad io B log , 6 November. Ava i l ab le a t : h t t p : / /www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2013/nov/06/paul-mcgann-doctor-who-classic-episode (Accessed: 26 January 2014).

Martin, T. et al. (2013) “Doctor Who: 50 things you didn’t know”, The Telegraph, 23 November [online]. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/doctor-who/10468029/Doctor-Who-50-things-you-didnt-know.html (Accessed: 26 January 2014).

Perryman, N. (2009) “Doctor Who and the covergence of media: a case study in ‘transmedia storyelling’”, in Storey, J. (ed.) Cultural theory and popular culture: a reader, 4th edn. Dorchester: Routledge, pp. 474-489

Robb, B. (2010) Timeless Adventures: How Doctor Who Conquered TV, Amazon [online]. Available at: http://www.amazon.com (Accessed: 26 January 2014).

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Sweney, M. (2013) “Doctor Who: Day of the Doctor takes $10m at the box office in three days”, The Guardian, [online]. Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/media/2013/nov/27/doctor-who-50th-day-doctor-box-office-hit (Accessed: 26 January 2014).

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BBC Online (2005) Defending the Earth! Because friends stick together. Available at: http://www.whoisdoctorwho.co.uk (Accessed: 26 January 2014).

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Martin, T. et al. (2013) “Doctor Who: 50 things you didn’t know”, The Telegraph, 23 November [online]. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/doctor-who/10468029/Doctor-Who-50-things-you-didnt-know.html (Accessed: 26 January 2014).

Perryman, N. (2009) “Doctor Who and the covergence of media: a case study in ‘transmedia storyelling’”, in Storey, J. (ed.) Cultural theory and popular culture: a reader, 4th edn. Dorchester: Routledge, pp. 474-489

Robb, B. (2010) Timeless Adventures: How Doctor Who Conquered TV, Amazon [online]. Available at: http://www.amazon.com (Accessed: 26 January 2014).

Sweney, M. (2013) “Doctor Who: Day of the Doctor takes $10m at the box office in three days”, The Guardian, [online]. Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/media/2013/nov/27/doctor-who-50th-day-doctor-box-office-hit (Accessed: 26 January 2014).

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