Tuesday, August 28, 2012

WANTED- one interdimensional cabin



Sometimes I wish I could travel to a secret cabin in another universe to watch Doctor Who. Doctor Who wouldn’t exist in our universe and I’d just go to the cabin and watch it free from distraction or interference. I would also have a special robot which would simply nod while I told it all my theories. It would probably be called Moffat. Watching Doctor Who in the real world is stressful.
Sometimes I think I actually love Doctor Who too much. I passed the point of regular, sane fandom some time ago and I think I’m just spiralling downward toward the 50th anniversary.

I’ve had the feeling for weeks that the ABC had something up their sleave. I thought maybe we were going to get season 7 fast tracked. In a lot of ways we are I guess. But I’m really not sure how I feel about it all.
In case you’ve been avoiding all other webpages in order to get your information exclusively from yours truly- this year’s episodes of Doctor Who will be available on iView at 5am every Sunday – immediately after they air in the UK. They will air on ABCTV a week later, at 7:30pm from September 8th.

I should, theoretically speaking, be completely ecstatic about this. We, Australia, are getting Doctor Who mere minutes after it finishes airing in the UK. That’s exciting.
Am I excited?
Sort of.
I guess.

I honestly think streaming is the answer. I’ve thought that for a long time. If obtaining content legally is actually easier than getting it illegally, evidence suggests that people will avoid piracy (even if, heaven forbid, they have to pay). My dream (if I can’t have old fashioned TV, which I think we can agree – I can’t) is a global streaming network. In my dream world everyone, no matter where they live, gets content at the same time. You pay a subscription fee, and maybe a little extra to watch special things. That money trickles back down to the content producers. Everyone gets TV when they want it and the people who deserve to get paid, get paid. There’s quite a lot of stuff standing in the way of this dream but I honestly think I could see it in my lifetime.

iView is one of the global frontrunners as far as online streaming goes. I remember when the ABC launched the service a few years ago I read an article saying that it was so far ahead of the curve that it was going to take several years for internet connections to catch up. Remember in the dark days before online catch-up? When a VHS malfunction could ruin your whole day? My childhood was traumatic. iView is great.

Watching Doctor Who on iView counts too. I know I’m one of the seven people outside the TV industry who care about ratings, but going on record as having supported a specific show by taking the time to watch it, excites me. I don’t usually get to go on record simply by watching TV because I don’t have a landline or a people meter.1 Every single time something is streamed online that data is recorded as the digital part of official ratings.

I definitely think this move is a step in the right direction. The TV nerd in me is really excited. I think it’s properly fantastic.

But the thing is… given the choice between watching Doctor Who on iView and watching it on TV, I would usually choose TV. Hands down. Given the choice between watching anything on a laptop and watching it on a television, I’m going to choose the TV. Especially if I’m watching said thing for the first time. Especially if said thing is Doctor Who.

iView doesn’t address a lot of the reasons I usually choose to wait. I choose the wait because I want to watch Doctor Who, the most important show in all of creation, in high definition. I love the ritual of Doctor Who. I plan my day around it. I make TARDIS pie and dance around my kitchen to Chameleon Circuit. I eat dinner at 7pm and I’m in front of the TV at 7:25. I watch the weather on the ABC. At 8:15pm I’ll usually text beccamarsh, or she’ll text me. I guess this all makes me sound a little bit unstable in the mental department, and maybe I am, but Doctor Who means a lot to me. The ritual of it really matters.

So the TV obsessive in me is less excited.

Maybe I just need a new ritual. Maybe that means getting up at 5am every Sunday. Maybe that means watching it at 7:30pm on Sunday nights, exactly like I usually would only a week early. Maybe that means waiting anyway. Maybe it means getting a cabin and another dimension and a robot.
I’m not sure I’ve decided yet.

I'm going to try and write a weekly blog this year. Plus I'd like to talk a bunch about the infinite number of theories I have for next year. If you harass me, I am more likely to do this. 

1- It doesn’t matter if you don’t know what a people meter* is. Or what a landline is. I think they probably need to rethink how they record ratings…

* Owning a people meter is basically my dream**.
** I am a bit of a loser, yes.***
*** My boyfriend and sub-editor wrote this footnote without my permission. He is the loser.

1 comment:

  1. You wouldn't call your robot K9?

    I love the idea of Dr Who being available here so soon after airing in the UK, and I don't mind watching shows on my laptop. But, like you, I prefer to watch shows on my tv. That's why I have a tv!

    And I am a little thrilled by the idea of being counted in ratings for the first time ever.

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