Doctor Who: Audience and Industries
Audience and Industry: blog tasks
Create a new blogpost called 'Doctor Who: Audience and Industry blog tasks' and answer the following questions:
Audience
1) Who is the target audience for Doctor Who? Do you think it has changed since 1963?
I think the target audience ranges from older viewers as doctor who had come out 1963 which means those people could still be into the show and carry on watching, however there are still younger viewers which could be ages of around 12-50 as it is still a very popular series.
2) What audience pleasures are offered by Doctor Who - An Unearthly Child? Apply Blumler and Katz's Uses and Gratifications theory to the episode. Make sure you provide specific examples from the episode to support your ideas.
1) Who is the target audience for Doctor Who? Do you think it has changed since 1963?
I think the target audience ranges from older viewers as doctor who had come out 1963 which means those people could still be into the show and carry on watching, however there are still younger viewers which could be ages of around 12-50 as it is still a very popular series.
2) What audience pleasures are offered by Doctor Who - An Unearthly Child? Apply Blumler and Katz's Uses and Gratifications theory to the episode. Make sure you provide specific examples from the episode to support your ideas.
Personal Identity:personally relating to something - seeing your lifestyle on screen. Think about how different audiences may identify with Susan, her teachers or the Doctor.Personal Relationships:personally relating to something - seeing your lifestyle on screen. Think about how different audiences may identify with Susan, her teachers or the Doctor.Diversion (Escapism):escapism and being entertained away from your normal life. Science Fiction is a classic genre for escapismSurveillance (Information / Facts):learning information that you did not already know. Doctor Who offers its audience an education about space travel, science and history.
3) What additional Uses and Gratifications would this episode provide to a modern 2020s audience?
4) Thinking of the 3 Vs audience pleasures (Visceral, Vicarious and Voyeuristic pleasures), which of these can be applied to An Unearthly Child?
VICARIOUS PLEASURE: Experiencing something through the characters (e.g. time/space travel). I have chosen this one as we get to experience how the young teenager feels and her living space by seeing where she lives and how she is as a person.
5) What kind of online fan culture does Doctor Who have? Give examples.
Doctor Who now has an international online fan culture of events, fan fiction, fan-edited trailers and more. The BBC also produces merchandise to sell to this audience.
The 'Whoniverse'
The ‘Whoniverse’ is made up of podcasts, spin-offs (other shows that derive from the main Doctor Who and have settings, ideas, characters in common e.g. K-9 which is a kid’s show about Doctor Who’s robot dog) and documentaries, behind-the-scenes, sneak peaks and so on.
Industries1) What was the television industry like in 1963? How many channels were there?
There were only two TV channels in the UK in 1963: BBC and ITV.
In terms of technology, videotape had only been in use for seven years when An Unearthly Child was made. It allowed the BBC to create the space and time travel effects we can see in the episode which were considered amazing at the time.
Although nowadays the first episode would be seen as very bad quality as its quite blurry and black and white. back then this was something very new and the show was very successful.
3) Why is Doctor Who such an important franchise for the BBC?
Doctor Who is one of the most iconic franchises that the BBC has. It has been shown all over the world through BBC Worldwide and generates huge income for the BBC.
In 2014, a BBC Worldwide Report stated Sherlock and Doctor Who as the BBC’s biggest exports of the past year. The worldwide simulcast (simultaneous transmission) of “The Day of the Doctor” in 2013 saw this episode air at the same time in 98 countries on six continents.
4) What other programmes/spin-offs are part of the wider Doctor Who franchise?
The BBC has maximised the popularity of the Doctor Who franchise by creating a series of spin-offs that build on the same universe or characters as the original show. These include:
- K9
- Sarah Jane Adventures
- Torchwood
- Class
These spin-offs allow the BBC to target slightly different audiences while still taking advantage of the huge Doctor Who fanbase.
5) Why does the Doctor Who franchise have so much merchandise available? Give examples.
They have a lot as this series has been running for many many years and there are many loyal fans that will be interested in purchasing the merchandise.
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