Further to my post here about why BitTorrent could be a way of saving TV – and critics – here’s an interesting piece in The Guardian.
It’s by Donna Franceschild, the writer of a long-ago show called Takin’ Over the Asylum which starred a very young Doctor Who David Tennant.
Now it’s a show that dealt with a bit of a hot potato in a realistic way – but I can imagine (as the article proves) that a lot of people in the commissioning process thought realism wasn’t the way to handle this sort of show. (sidenote: it amazes me how often people don’t think there is humour and emotion in even the most bleak of topics.)
Anyway, a couple of people decide to put it up on YouTube and the result is that the BBC is now releasing the series on DVD in response to the feedback from that.
So there’s proof that all this modern technology isn’t just about the piracy. Here we have it a) bringing back a cult classic and b) if the BBC hadn’t brought it back, it would have still been preserved now for all to see.
Great stuff.
One response to “BitTorrent and YouTube can be good for TV – the proof”
The only reason that show was a hit on Youtube in the first place is Who fans putting it up because of David Tennant. Folk have been asking the BBC about a DVD release of TOtA for years and got nowhere. Suddenly a couple of fangirls go squeeeee over clips from it and they’re tripping up over themselves to release it. It’s down to the BBC seeing a cash cow and milking it dry. This is plainly evidenced by the picture of young Mr MacDonald on the cover in the foreground, with main star Ken Stott relegated to a secondary position.
The biggest giveaway is that DT is doing commentary, plus his audition tape is included as an extra – but that’s it. And god bless Tennant, because he’s enough of a TV geek and fan to make sure the commentary will be good, and informative, but this isn’t the internet or filesharing or vodcasting, no matter how altruistic the BBC tries to make it seem.
The BBC’s got form at this. Dark Season and Century Falls were being lobbied about for DVD release for a decade, with nothing but silence coming from Auntie and 2 Entertain. Suddenly Who’s a hit, despite Rusty’s success with Queer as Folk, Second Coming et al, and we get both shoved onto DVD as soon as the tapes can be ejected from the VCR.