brown@nic_vax.UUCP (03/21/85)
I have received the March 1 and March 2, 1985 issues of the British
newspaper, Daily Star.
I quote exactly what was in the issues from those two dates.
March 1, 1985 (front page)
Fight is on for Time Lord
SAVE Doctor Who! That's the Daily Star's message today.
And it has to backing of countless fans on both sides of the Atlantic.
They are furious that the BBC is to drop the Timelord for 18 months -
especially as the show is a moneyspinner.
And enthusiasts from America and Britain have turned to us to plead:
"Please help."
For they know that the Daily Star gets results. We campaigned to keep
Bergerac and Worzel Gummidge. And we won.
In America fans have mobilised a nationwide letters campaign to protest
at the BBC's shelving of the much-loved programme, which has run for
22 years.
"I would be surprised if 100,000 letters are sent to the BBC." said
Gayle Bennett, president of the North American Time Festival which co-ordinates
all Doctor Who fan clubs in the states.
The BBC is dropping the Doctor because of the cost - 100,000 pounds per
show. But the Americans say: "We'll pay."
Ron Katz, president of the 40,000 strong Doctor Who Fan Club Of America
has said they will raise $5,000,000 to fund the show.
Already 1.5 million pounds has been pledged after fan club officials
worked through the night.
A BBC spokesman said last night: "Of course we will consider such an
offer if it is serious."
Meanwhile, British fans are seething too.
"We are not going to take this lying down," said Ian Levine, a lead-
ing member of the British fan club.
The BBC is considering defusing the protests by re-running old shows.
But that won't satisfy Ian.
"Dr. Who must be kept fresh," he said.
Cheapest
None of the fans can understand why the BBC want to axe a show that
brings in 1.5 million punds a year.
It is sold to 54 countries around the world and has spawned 104
Doctor Who books.
And the 100,000 pound bill for an episode makes it the cheapest
drama made at the BBC.
The average cost is around 200,000 pounds, and really big productions
can cost a great deal more.
Miami Vice, which the BBC has bought from America, costs one
million dollars an episode.
Colin Baker, the current Doctor Who, said last night the decision to
"rest" the series came as "a great personal blow."
But he has been submerged by messages of support.
March 2, 1985
He's Safe! Pledge by the Beeb on you know Who
CARRY ON DOCTOR Time Lord safe, vows BBC chief
DOCTOR WHO is safe.. he'll be back next year in a new-look shorter show.
Following the Daily Star Campaign to keep the family favourite on
the air, BBC boss Bill Cotton stepped in last night to reassure worried fans:
"The Time Lord's future is secure."
In an unpresedented move, he made the pledge personally to David
Saunders, head of the Dr Who fan club.
Earlier this week BBC1 controller Michael Grade announced that the
22-year-old series would be 'rested' for 18 months so money could be put
into new programmes.
But many fans, and the present Doctor, Colin Baker, feared the
show might never reappear.
Mr. Cotton said: "We are going back to the old tradition of
25-minute programmes, rather than the current 45-minute version. We think
that is what the public wants, and so does the producer and his team."
The BBC said that the current series was costing 200,000 pounds an
episode and not 100,000 pounds as earlier thought.
Mr. Cotton added: "We appreciate the passionate support of the fan
club in this country, and of the fans around the world."
Confident
"We ask them to be a little patient while we get the Doctor back on
to the familiar rails. I am confident that Dr. Who has a great future on
BBC1."
A Band Aid style record has been planned to raise cash for the Save
Dr. Who cause. Fans hope Elton John and Holly Johnson - both Who fans -
will take part along with the Village People.
It is the second time in 10 days that Mr. Cotton has had to calm
angry viewers.
He earlier admitted that the BBC had boobed dropping Dallas in mid-
series and announced that it would be back next month.
The Doctor Who news came the same day it was revealed that the BBC
had paid 500,000 pounds - for an American series it hadn't even seen.
Kane and Abel based on Jeffrey Archer's best seller, is being made by
Embassy Films which was headed by Mr Grade until 1983.
Mr Grade has a credit on the series as executive producer - but he has
no financial involvement in it.
Well, that is what was in the paper for those two days. I am still not
pleased with the whole thing and will still be sending my letters out.
I hope you do too.
Mr. Video
Doctor: I suddenly feel conspicuous.
Peri: I'm not surprised, in that coat!