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 * __Presentation Script – Dunleavy’s Theory on TV Drama – //Doctor Who//__**
 * __POWERPOINT:__**

By Deborah Burrows and Kathryn Cooke ** > “The first era [was] characterized by a few channels broadcasting for part of the day only. It was the era of scarcity which lasted in most countries until the late 1970s or early 1980s.”
 * __Slide 1 - TV Drama.__
 * __Slide 2 – ‘Scarcity’__**
 * Trisha Dunleavy – //TV Drama: Form, Agency, Innovation// (2009)
 * John Ellis (2000:39 – cited by Dunleavy 2009:3) :


 * __Slide 3 - As a reminder:__**
 * ‘Availability’ – around 1980s to early 2000s – several channels
 * ‘Plenty’ – from 2002+ - more advanced technology, many more channels aimed at specific audiences


 * __Slide 4 –Earlier //Doctor Who//__**
 * 1963 – a ‘serial’ – telling story over several episodes
 * ‘PSB’ – Lord John Reith: Inform, Educate, Entertain
 * E.g. The gun/training scene

> - “…a self-contained and resolving nature of their episode stories.” (Dunleavy 2009: 20)
 * __Slide 5 – Later //Doctor Who//__**
 * New format – drama series
 * 45-minute episodes, most containing a different story
 * More popular format


 * __Slide 6 – Authorship; who is mostly responsible for the work and deserves the credit?__**
 * Dunleavy – more than one person – often the producer/director/writer trio in TV drama
 * However, due to its longevity, //Doctor Who// has a vast range of writers and producers
 * Dunleavy – new series success mostly due to Russell Davies (Head Writer and Executive Producer)
 * www.imbd.com Movie Database notes the creator – Sydney Newman


 * __Slide 7 -New Series vs Old Serial__**


 *    “Having exchanged it’s initial 25 minute serial structure for a kind of 45 minute episodic series format” (Dunleavy 2009: p61)
 * Old = episodic serial, 4-7 mini serials with self contained storylines.
 * New = episodic series, individual resolved stories, all episodes linked (but can be played in any order), all episodes in a series lead up to a finale episode – clues throughout the series…serial qualities!

__**Slide 8 - Test of Time**__


 *  “successful series can run nearly forever” (Monaco 1981: p393)
 * Match the series to the actor, can change the dynamics of the series depending on who is playing “the doctor” and how they play him.
 * “regeneration” of ‘The Doctor’ allows believable transition between series.
 * Changing the co-star (the assistant) to keep the series fresh, allows for multiple series

__**Slide 9- Monaco on the TV Series**__

“It isn’t what these characters do that gets people to tune in week after week, but what they are. Such extraordinary quirky characters would be out of place on the stage or in films, but they provide the quintessential television experience. We tune in week after week to be with them because we know what to expect” (Monaco 1981: p392)

__**Slide 10 - More Monaco**__

“Basic Unit of television is not the show, but the series, which gives television an advantage in building character over every other narrative medium” (Monaco 1981: p392) “TV is not so much as a medium of stories as of moods and atmosphere” (Monaco 1981: p392) “We tune in not to find out what is happening… but to spend time with the characters” (Monaco 1981: p392)

__**Slide 11 - Business as Usual**__

Keeping the audience:
 * More channels to compete with
 * Prime Time TV slot, from 5pm until 7pm
 * Using different writers/directors for each episode to keep originality, e.g. Stephen Moffat.
 * Constant re-invention

__**Slide 12 - Dramatic Devices**__
 * Voice Over: ‘The Doctor’ voice in the watch
 * Flash backs to explain storyhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUAsrY3Pleo&feature=PlayList&p=BE92DCBCB6C2EFF9&index=5
 * Wide shots to open the scene
 * ‘Martha’ is all knowing
 * ‘The Doctor’ least in the know: Ironic!
 * Audience leaked the information slowly (through flashbacks)

__**Slide 13 - Episodes 8 and 9, Series 3, In context.**__


 * Not typical //Dr Who//
 * More cinematic, CGI, On loc. Filming, more advanced studio filming.
 * “Happily-ever-after” questioned?
 * Takes on serial form over these two episodes
 * Binary Opposition: Two Contrasting Ideas. Good vs. Evil, Reality vs. Dream, Saving the world vs. saving the one you love.
 * Shows it can have changes and still work, which brings us on to hybridisation…


 * __Slide 14 – Hybridisation__**
 * Dunleavy – TV drama doesn’t always fit comfortably into one category
 * //Dr Who// contains many different elements
 * Seems to mostly fit into ‘popular’ drama (broad audience etc.), but its originality could be argued as a factor of ‘serious’ drama – Dunleavy supports that this overlapping of categories can happen
 * Successfully transformed from serial to series
 * Also maintained something from its old serial form – hints throughout series build up to finale episode – as well as some episodes (like 8 and 9) taking on serial format over two or three episodes


 * __Slide 15 – Opinion__**
 * Fame from already having been successful in an era of ‘mass audience’ probably helped it succeed again
 * Also, taking on more modern format
 * Would it have been as successful had it been a completely new drama?
 * It seems to have won over a whole new generation of fans

> Oxford University Press > Routledge Press
 * __Slide 16 – References__**
 * Dunleavy, Trisha (2009) //Television Drama: Form, Agency, Innovation// Palgrave Macmillan
 * Monaco, James (1981) //How to read a film: The art, Technology, Language, History and Theory of Film and Media//
 * Bignell, Jonathan (2004) //Introduction to Television studies//
 * www.imdb.com


 * __SCRIPT__**

Trisha Dunleavy, in her book //TV Drama: Form, Agency, Innovation// (2009), states that TV Drama was first developed during the era of ‘scarcity’. Dunleavy uses John Ellis’s terms when she talks about the three “era’s” of television: - ‘__Scarcity__’ is the period between 1930’s and 1980’s when Television only had a few channels, so there wasn’t as much competition – channels were broadcasting to a large ‘mass audience’ as people tended to watch whatever was on at the time. - ‘__Availability__’ was the period from around 1980’s to early 2000’s where several channels increased competition. - ‘__Plenty__’ – from 2002 onwards - where more advanced technology allows hundreds of channels, many of which are aimed at specific audiences e.g. channels for sport, music channels.
 * __Intro__**

//Doctor Who// was first broadcast in 1963 as a ‘__Serial__,’ - which Dunleavy describes as telling a complete story over several, short episodes – each episode was a 25-minute continuation of the story which would be resolved in the finale/final episode.
 * __Earlier Dr Who__**


 * ‘**__PSB__’ (public service broadcasting) restrictions would have had some influence over the earlier //Doctor Who//. Lord John Reith’s ideals for ‘PSB’ were that TV should inform, educate, and entertain – though, this can still be seen in the newer episodes e.g. the history aspect can be seen as educational e.g. the clothes, settings, and events are appropriate for the era the Doctor is meant to be visiting.

//Doctor Who// was brought back to Television with new stories and a new format; instead of the former Serial style of the older episodes, it is now more of a __drama series__, which Dunleavy explains has “a self-contained and resolving nature of their episode stories.” (2009:20)
 * __Later Dr Who__**

Each episode of //Doctor Who// is around 45 minutes long and contains a different story which is resolved by the end of that episode, then the next episode will have a new storyline, and so on – this is more popular with broadcasters, as they can be played and repeated in any order, and wont lose an audience by confusing them if they miss a few episodes – this fits in with the increasing emphasis on commercialism, as they want to bring in as much money as possible nowadays

Dunleavy also talks of ‘authorship’ in TV Drama. She argues it should usually be attributed to more than one person - often the producer/director/writer trio in TV Drama//.// However, //Dr Who// has had a vast range of writers and directors (which would seem to back up Dunleavy’s argument against single or individual authorship.) - but Dunleavy also refers to Russell Davies, the Head Writer & Executive Producer, stating the **new** //Doctor Who//’s success is mostly due to him.
 * __Authorship__**

We also found that on the Movie Database website, Imdb, it notes the creator as being Sydney Newman, who actually came up with the initial, general idea for the drama

Trisha Dunleavy emphasises that TV drama, like documentary and most TV, doesn’t fit completely into one category.
 * __Hybridisation__**

Dr Who seems to be a very all-round drama which has been known to contain many different elements - such as science-fiction, comedy, adventure, and even romance.

It seems mostly to be a ‘popular’ drama, as - for example - it appeals to a broad audience, but it also has the originality that would be found in a ‘serious’ drama – which supports Dunleavy’s argument that some TV drama can contain elements of both these categories.

It was able to successfully take on a different format whilst still being recognisable as ‘Dr Who’.

It also maintained an element of its old serial form as clues are left throughout the series which come together in the finale. For example, the stopwatch which plays a major role in episodes 8 & 9, is used to find the master in the final episode.

We think that what could have **helped** it succeed again was the fame from having already been successful in the ‘scarcity’ era when audiences watched whatever was on due to very little choice, which meant TV programmes had very large audiences - many people would have already been familiar with //Doctor Who// and its general story and features. Whilst another important factor was probably the change to the more popular and modern format.
 * __Opinion__**

However, would it still have been such a big success if it had been completely new? We also remembered that it has also won over a whole **new** generation of fans who love the new series without having seen any of the older versions.