Over the past decade, a part of our Saturday evenings has been to watch the adventures of the Doctor in the latest Doctor Who episode. However, that may change if Culture Secretary John Whittingdale gets his way.
People like routine, especially when it comes to television shows. We get used to seeing a show at a certain time on a certain day, sometimes adjusting our scheduled around that to be certain to catch the latest episodes. That is certainly true with Doctor Who, whose Saturday night time slot has been established over the past decade.
However, that time frame may be in danger. Culture Secretary John Whittingdale is looking to stop channels from “aggressively scheduling” against one another, basically looking to stop the BBC from scheduling shows opposite other popular programs on ITV.
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Why would this affect Doctor Who? Because one of those time slots in question is the Saturday night time frame, considered to be quite the coveted slot. As ITV has their hit show X Factor that night, shows like Doctor Who, Poldark and Strictly Come Dancing could be affected, forced to move to another time frame if Whittingdale gets his way.
Quite honestly, this is asinine. Why force television stations to put their programming at specific times? If they want to have their best shows face off against one another, let them. Why is the government trying to get involved?
Also, why is it that a show like Doctor Who would potentially get moved? At this point, the show’s 53 year history would have to count for something. To move a show that has such a widespread fanbase for a reality show is ridiculous. Maybe, just maybe, since it does not have the same tenure as Doctor Who, X Factor should move to a different time slot. Or is this just politics as usual trying to force its way into places that it does not belong?
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Let television stations schedule shows where they want, and let Doctor Who stay in its familiar time slot on Saturday night. Keep politics out of people’s entertainment choices.