Doctor Who: Series Eleven: What promotion needs to focus on most of all
By James Aggas
In the weeks leading up to the broadcast of its first episode, we can expect a lot of promotion for the eleventh series of Doctor Who. But what would all of that promotion need to focus on most of all?
Out of all the buzz for Series Eleven of Doctor Who, one thing that’s really stood out is how much Chris Chibnall promises to make this series a fresh start.
Not just with a brand new Doctor, but also with brand new companions, storylines, monsters – even the Daleks won’t be making an appearance this year. (For quite a few fans, that’s definitely seen as a good thing.)
There’ll also be fewer mentions to previously established continuity, too. While it’ll be clear for already loyal viewers that the series will carry on from Capaldi’s last episode, there’ll be fewer major callbacks this series. Overall, Chibnall wants brand new potential viewers to just jump on board with Series Eleven.
And that’s fine. In fact, it might be the very best approach to take. Eleven series in to the New Series alone, and New Who is starting to become almost as daunting to new audiences as the Classic Series can be. Oh, eleven series isn’t the same as twenty-six seasons, but it’s still a lot for new audiences to catch up on.
And this is the biggest key point about making Series Eleven a fresh jumping-on point. It’s not enough that the fans know that. No, the key thing is that the general audience knows that, too. The best way to let them know is through promotion for the show.
When Doctor Who came back in 2005, it presented itself as brand new and accessible to a new audience. Can Series Eleven be able to do the same?
(Image credit: Doctor Who/BBC.
Image obtained from: official Doctor Who website.)
What’s old is new again
This won’t be easy. When Doctor Who came back in 2005, it was able to brand itself as “Series One”. It may have been the twenty-seventh season on television, but having that label made it instantly clear that new audiences could just jump on board with this new era.
It’s going to be trickier to do the same with Series Eleven, just from its very number. A lot of general audiences expect that you need to watch TV shows from the very beginning in order to enjoy the current season.
This has been less true with Doctor Who. While starting with Series Two isn’t recommended, due to all of the storylines and characters that carry over, starting with Series Five is. After all, it’s a completely new era and a new style, and Moffat does a great job of presenting the series as brand new again in The Eleventh Hour. I’ll expect Chris Chibnall will do the same with his opening episode.
However, it can be easier for general audiences to assume otherwise. And this could be a problem. Because over the years, Doctor Who has usually been at its best when it’s at its most accessible. Not in all cases, but generally speaking, at least. When the audience member can just sit down in front of the TV and not worry too much about what happened before.
We can expect a lot of promotion for Series Eleven in the weeks before its broadcast. But what does it need to focus on most?
(Image credit: Doctor Who/BBC.
Image obtained from: www.cbr.com.)
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Has the promotion done a good job of conveying such a high level of accessibility to the general audience? Perhaps not just yet.
The teaser shown during the World Cup final was intriguing, but was it enough to say that it was new? I’m not sure. The Comic Con trailer revealed more, but it’s more likely that eager fans have watched it than new audiences.
Perhaps this is something that we’ll only know closer to the series’s launch. Marketing is OK now, but it’s bound to ramp up in the last month or so before broadcast. Which is already pretty close, but things are likely to still be quiet for the next couple of weeks.
However, once those last few weeks kick in, so will the promotion. I think we can expect a great deal more, marketing wise. Not just more trailers, but also interviews, magazine covers and more.
How well will this convey the new series to be a fresh starting point? And will it be effective at making Doctor Who fresh for the wider audience? Only time will tell.
Next. Doctor Who Infinity review: The Dalek Invasion of Time. dark
What do you think? How important is it for the series to present itself as new and accessible for the general audience? Will effective promotion for this lead to an increase in ratings? Let us know in the comments below.