Save Doctor Who Confidential

Doctor Who fans, like the Doctor himself are notoriously hard to anger. By and large they will accept a change of Doctor, Companion or Show Runner with only a miniscule bit of grumbling. Some find it hard to accept of course, but the majority will accept change as and when it happens. But when roused they can be as terrifying as the Doctor himself.  At the moment they are roused.

The cause of this display of uncharacteristic dissatisfaction is in fact not target towards Doctor Who, but rather towards the BBC. Specifically BBC3 and it's decision to cancel the long running behind the scenes documentry Doctor Who Confidential. A victim of the BBC budget cuts, Confidential has apparently been axed in order to make room for - in the words of every missive sent by the BBC concering this matter - "Original British commisions unique to the channel." What this means no one is exactly sure - the BBC refuse to specify despite numerous letters  - though it apparently means airing Top Gear USA which is hardly original or unique.

The reason for this upsurge of anger is two fold. On the one hand the removal of Confidential will mean that Doctor Who now has no spin off shows, where once it had three. With the Sarah Jane Adventures bought to an end by the unfortunate death of Elisabeth Sladen, and the furture of Torchwood hanging in the balance, Confidential was the last bastion of Doctor Who spin offs. Without it, there will be nothing left.

The other reason is the central one however. To the fandom, Confidential is more than just a spin off it was an interesting and engaging show in it's own right. There is no other show on the BBC that presents such a candid and in depth view of what life behind the cameras of a major tv show is actually like. To those interested in how television is made and what is involved then Confidential was a gift from the heavens. As Alice Evans says "I enjoy Confidential immensely,  I like seeing what goes on behind the scenes, what goes into the creation of a script or a scene or a costume or a character.  This appears to be the reaction of most fans. The chance to see what is going on behind the scenes is something all fans - espeically families with small children - relish.

The fandoms response to the cancellation has been rapid, with a facebook page, a twitter feed and at least two petitions all popping up in the time since the annoucement was made. While some believe that having multiple petitions will undermine the campagins efforts and make co-ordination difficult, with 42, 110 signitures currently adoring the petition and fans from around the world joining the campagin it certainly seems to be making a mark.

Some believe that the show can not be saved. Others believe that if it is it will have to be cut down from it's current length of fourty five minutes to somewhere around the twenty/twenty five mark. But one thing is clear. With nine out of ten fans of the opinion that the decision was the wrong one, the BBC certainly have a fight on their hands.