BBC Apologizes To Who Star

An anonymous reader writes "SciFi Wire is reporting that 'The BBC, which earlier reported that Doctor Who star Christopher Eccleston was leaving the show after the first season, issued an unusual apology to the actor for mischaracterizing his reasons for departing...the network broke an agreement with Eccleston not to reveal that he had planned to film just one season of the hit show all along.'" We covered the announcement of his resignation late last month.

Comments

The BBC seems to apologize a lot

[brandonp]

The BBC seems to apologize a lot for their reporting, do a quick search and you will find many examples. Here is a few:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/newswatch/ifs/hi/newsid_4220 000/newsid_4222300/4222353.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/newswatch/ifs/hi/newsid_4270 000/newsid_4273300/4273385.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/newswatch/ifs/hi/newsid_4030 000/newsid_4032600/4032665.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_ra dio/1544897.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/1050290.s tm
http://www.vermontguardian.com/dailies/0904/0322.s html
http://cbsnews.cbs.com/stories/2003/03/21/iraq/mai n545215.shtml
http://www.iht.com/articles/2004/12/03/news/beeb.h tml
http://www.rediff.com/news/2004/jan/28bbc.htm

Some are serious, some are ridiculous. But in the end, apologies result from improper reporting, much different than a simple correction.

Re:The BBC seems to apologize a lot

[quacking duck]

Far, far better to apologize when you're wrong, than to ignore (and if that doesn't work, deny) that there was ever an issue.

Too often these days big media are guilty of going the ignore/deny route. That the BBC at least attempts to rectify incidents of bad reporting puts them heads and shoulders above most others, because let's face it, no media outlet is always correct, especially where biases may affect the reporting.

Re:The BBC seems to apologize a lot

[mollymoo]

Naughty BBC for apologising when they get something wrong, what a shocking example to set for the children.

The doctor is a cylon

[loggia]

Very subtle joke for the attentive.

Air it in the United States already!

[shadowlight1]

When will a station finally pick the show up in the United States??? It's showing in Australia, the UK, Canada, and Italy to record ratings. Someone needs to wake up the execs that be and get this show on the air before we look like complete morons.

This isn't terribly surprising.

[A Sea and Cake]

Networks can be incredibly forgiving of actors if they really want them - the one-season limit of Christopher Eccleston seems to fall under that rule. Hell, The producers of Witchblade kept Yancy Butler when filming Witchblade, even though she had a substance abuse problem. They went so far as bringing her mom on set to keep her sober and filming shots where she wobbled after throwing a punch again.

Whereas if a crew member showed up once just a bit inebriated, they'd probably have been sacked. Cogs in the wheel, I suppose.

What are they going to do for next season, though? Ignore the elephant on the sofa, and change characters? Do an episode where Dr. Who wakes up in a different body due to some bizarre transformation gun he gets hit with? Deal with it Ed Wood style and have him killed off-screen?

Re:This isn't terribly surprising.

[Anonymous Coward]

Do an episode where Dr. Who wakes up in a different body due to some bizarre transformation gun he gets hit with?

Not a big Dr. Who fan I see.

Re:Shame..

[Leontes]

Doctor who on television was dead, though. If it means having a really amazing doctor for one year vs keeping the television program off the air, I'd prefer the one year of interesting shows. I'm not so sure if I agree or even understand your criticism of Piper. Accent accuracy and response by others within the context temporally can either be explained by the translator field generated by the TARDIS or just adorable kitsch campy production value. The fact you find her accent to be low class and that of a stereotypical welfare abuser suggests to me they've done a great job in casting, since I feel, people whom have such thoughts should be exposed to stimuli that counters to such harmful, ridiculous stereotyping.