Bureaucrats, content-moderator, emailconfirmed, Administrators (Semantic MediaWiki), Curators (Semantic MediaWiki), Administrators, threadmoderator
85,404
edits
Donald Baverstock: Difference between revisions
From Tardis Wiki, the free Doctor Who reference
→History with Doctor Who: reorganisation
(→History with Doctor Who: reorganisation) |
|||
| Line 4: | Line 4: | ||
Newman once summed up Baverstock's attitude towards ''Doctor Who'' as being "very keen" but "worried about money". ([[REF]]: ''[[The First Doctor Handbook]]'') | Newman once summed up Baverstock's attitude towards ''Doctor Who'' as being "very keen" but "worried about money". ([[REF]]: ''[[The First Doctor Handbook]]'') | ||
== History with ''Doctor Who'' == | == History with ''Doctor Who'' == | ||
Baverstock was actively engaged in the creation of the programme. He had several well-documented meetings and written exchanges with [[Sydney Newman]] | Baverstock was actively engaged in the creation of the programme. He had several well-documented meetings and written exchanges with [[Sydney Newman]], [[Donald Wilson]] and [[Verity Lambert]] throughout his tenure as BBC One Controller, and had a profound impact on the finances, production resources, scheduling and even the content of early ''Doctor Who''. | ||
=== Money man === | === Money man === | ||
Ultimately, Baverstock was ''Doctor Who''{{'}}s commissioning executive, the person who decided the final budgets for the programme and whether it would even get aired. He had to be satisfied that things were progressing satisfactorily. At first green lighting only a four epsiode commitment, he extended it to thirteen on the strength of what eventually became known as "[[The Pilot Episode]]". He almost immediately reversed his decision, however, after he started looking at the numbers harder. | Ultimately, Baverstock was ''Doctor Who''{{'}}s commissioning executive, the person who decided the final budgets for the programme and whether it would even get aired. He had to be satisfied that things were progressing satisfactorily. At first green lighting only a four epsiode commitment, he extended it to thirteen on the strength of what eventually became known as "[[The Pilot Episode]]". He almost immediately reversed his decision, however, after he started looking at the numbers harder. | ||
| Line 27: | Line 24: | ||
Though his defence of the budget was clearly a significant event, he used his office in other ways that affected the early production of ''Doctor Who''. | Though his defence of the budget was clearly a significant event, he used his office in other ways that affected the early production of ''Doctor Who''. | ||
==== Scheduling and facilities management ==== | |||
As Controller of BBC One, Baverstock also made decisions that affected the transmission details of the programme. One key determination was episode length — a particularly contentious issue that divided members of his staff for a few months. After much internal discussion over the course of several months, he had to weigh in personally. On [[5 July]] 1963, he decreed that ''Doctor Who'' episodes would be 25 minutes long, as they would remain until 1989. | |||
Baverstock was also personally responsible for the punishing but prolific recording schedule that made [[William Hartnell|Hartnell]] the hardest-working of all the acotrs who played the Doctor. Although [[Sydney Newman]] had lobbied for a longer break between [[production block]]s, Baverstock himself was the one who established that there be only four weeks between seasons in those early years of ''Doctor Who''. | |||
He was also ultimately in charge of rationalising the use of production facilities. Thus, he was a key figure in the long-running dispute over whether the show could move from what [[Donald Wilson]] and later [[Verity Lambert]] considered the wholly inappropriate [[Lime Grove Studio D]]. In June 1963, he denied a request to move ''Doctor Who''{{'}}s specialised recording equipment to [[Riverside Studios]] so that his own pet project, {{wi|That Was the Week That Was}}, could enjoy the superior facility. He was involved in several other meetings with various BBC executives and department heads about the headaches caused by Lime Grove's inadequate facilities. Throughout his tenure as Controller, ''Doctor Who'' largely remained at Lime Grove — though it did record at [[BBC Television Centre|Television Centre]] on rare occasion. | |||
==== Content ==== | |||
Baverstock was demonstrably interested in the quality of the drama itself. On or about [[20 May]] [[1963]] he personally signed off on the format document prepared by Newman, [[Donald Wilson]] and [[C. E. Webber]], saying that series was "looking great". | |||
==== Minor matters ==== | |||
[[Donald Wilson]] and he clashed after Baverstock withdrew a commitment for ''Unearthly'' to be featured on the cover of ''[[Radio Times]]'' in [[November]] [[1963]]. ([[DWMS Summer 1994]]) | |||
== After the BBC == | == After the BBC == | ||
