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Sci-Fi Media Television

Was the New Dr. Who Leaked on Purpose? 370

Static-MT writes "The pilot episode of the BBC's highly anticipated new Doctor Who series may have been intentionally leaked onto file-sharing networks to generate buzz, a source who instructed the network on viral advertising told Wired News."
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Was the New Dr. Who Leaked on Purpose?

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  • by Breakfast Pants ( 323698 ) on Wednesday March 16, 2005 @01:33PM (#11954894) Journal
    In some jurisdictions in the world companies have to be careful about doing this because they give up parts of their exclusive ownership on the copyright of the work in question.
  • Re:Perfect copy (Score:1, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 16, 2005 @01:36PM (#11954948)
    If that was the best looking AVI you've ever seen, then you're new at this stuff. It could have been a DVD screener ripped by one of the hundred or so people in the chain. No reason to assume it was leaked intentionally.
  • Well... (Score:3, Informative)

    by dJCL ( 183345 ) on Wednesday March 16, 2005 @01:44PM (#11955062) Homepage
    I'm buzzed.

    I've watched it, and some of the commercials, and think I will really like the new series.

    Find a torrent of the current BBC commercials if you don't want to download, or didn't like, the leaked episode. It really does make things look interesting. (www.demonoid.com has a few versions of it, all high quality)

  • Re:Worked for me (Score:3, Informative)

    by BarryNorton ( 778694 ) on Wednesday March 16, 2005 @01:51PM (#11955145)
    Have a look here [bbc.co.uk] for the cost of the BBC television license and what it funds...
  • In Canada... (Score:4, Informative)

    by sbowles ( 602816 ) on Wednesday March 16, 2005 @01:53PM (#11955180)
    CBC [www.cbc.ca] will be airing the first episode on April 5th.
  • by lambent ( 234167 ) on Wednesday March 16, 2005 @01:54PM (#11955188)
    It did not suck. The new doctor acted more like the doctor should act than some of the other doctors. The female lead (unknow to us americans, so i won't call her by name) acted like the typical Doctor sidekick: confused, panicky, causing more trouble than she's worth. Read the books, watch the old televesion serieses, and it's apparent that this new cast is quite in line with the previous generations.
  • Re:Worked for me (Score:5, Informative)

    by biglig2 ( 89374 ) on Wednesday March 16, 2005 @02:20PM (#11955557) Homepage Journal
    In 2003/2004 the license fee was about $20 a month.

    Hmm, the page I got that from had an interesting breakdown of how they spent it:

    * BBC One £3.37
    * BBC Two £1.45
    * Digital television channels £0.98
    * Transmission and collection costs £0.98
    * BBC Radio 1, 2, 3, 4 and Five Live £0.99
    * Digital radio stations £0.08
    * Nations & English Regions television £0.90
    * Local radio £0.61
    * bbc.co.uk £0.31
    Total £9.67

    For those not familiar with their work:

    BBC one is the mainstream TV channel. This is where Dr. Who would be found. One is a difficult channel for the BBC since they have to work out how much it should compete with commercial TV.

    BBC two is for less popular TV stuff. Often programs start on two, gain a following, and transfer to one.

    Digital TV - they repeat one and two, and add three (more entertainment), four (more factual), two kids channels, a 24 hour news channel, and a channel showing what parliament is doing. the key on is three, which basically the Govt. forces them to do in order to encourage people to go digital (e.g. they show new series here first) so that it will be easy to turn off the analogue one day.

    The national radio stations: one is new popular music; two is non-new popular music, comedy, other music genres; three is classical; four is speech; five is sport and news.

    Digital radio is as digital TV; they rebroadcast and add some more channels. Seven is absolutely brilliant as they play their back catalogue of incredible radio stuff.

    Regional TV is mostly news, although some of the larger regions make their own stuff. Northern Ireland and Wales especially.

    Local Radio is mostly awful except for London and the odd show.

    All the radio can be heard on their web page, with most shows available for a week after their original transmission. This alone nearly justifies the license fee for me!
  • by iabervon ( 1971 ) on Wednesday March 16, 2005 @02:26PM (#11955647) Homepage Journal
    The BBC isn't a media company in the usual sense. They get their funding from the British government, not advertisers or ticket sales. Lumping them and the MPAA together is a bit like expecting Linus and Bill Gates to agree on government policy. The BBC didn't lose any money due to this, because it probably didn't cause any britons to get rid of their televisions. The MPAA probably lost a bunch of money due to this, but that's what happens when the competition is better.
  • Know your roots (Score:5, Informative)

    by chiph ( 523845 ) on Wednesday March 16, 2005 @02:26PM (#11955664)
    That's just not any alien head, it's the alien head from another classic sci-fi series from the 1960's you may have heard of -- Star Trek.

    Specifically, it's from the The Corbomite Maneuver [gateworld.net] episode.

    Chip H.
  • Legally a BAD move! (Score:5, Informative)

    by Tsu Dho Nimh ( 663417 ) <abacaxi.hotmail@com> on Wednesday March 16, 2005 @02:34PM (#11955790)
    "may have been intentionally leaked onto file-sharing networks"

    Great, if true, because they can't prosecute anyone for doing what they themselves did. It's "equitable estoppel" ... A type of estoppel that bars a person from adopting a position in court that contradicts his or her past statements or actions when that contradictory stance would be unfair to another person who relied on the original position. For example, if a landlord agrees to allow a tenant to pay the rent ten days late for six months, it would be unfair to allow the landlord to bring a court action in the fourth month to evict the tenant for being a week late with the rent. The landlord would be estopped from asserting his right to evict the tenant for late payment of rent. Also known as estoppel in pais.

  • Re:Worked for me (Score:1, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 16, 2005 @02:37PM (#11955828)
    BBC America is fine if you're OK with the adverts, but.....

    I'm an expat, so I hate commercials. Plus there's loads of stuff that they don't show you on BBC America.
  • Torrent link (Score:3, Informative)

    by AndroidCat ( 229562 ) on Wednesday March 16, 2005 @02:45PM (#11955926) Homepage
    Like this? [btefnet.net]
  • by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 16, 2005 @03:42PM (#11956615)
    "They get their funding from the British government, not advertisers or ticket sales"

    I think that statement is a little misleading. The BBC gets its funding from a yearly television tax, not the governmnet itself.

    This allows the BBC to be mostly free from governmnet interference and has helped the BBC become arguably the best world news organization, if not the best media company there is.

  • by Tyler Durden ( 136036 ) on Wednesday March 16, 2005 @03:47PM (#11956652)
    Seriously? Which episodes have you seen?

    I only know the Tom Baker episodes, but I seem to recall The Doctor having to save an assistant at least once every story. Specific examples...

    Talons of Weng-Chiang:
    Doctor saves Leela from bad guy sucking away her life energy.

    Seeds of Doom:
    Doctor saves Sarah Jane from being forceably transformed into plant monster.

    The Sontaran Experiment:
    Doctor saves Sarah Jane from experiments performed by alien.

    Which Doctor are you familiar with who never once ends up saving the life of one of his female companions?
  • by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 16, 2005 @06:18PM (#11958607)
    That's strange, I'd have thought that they couldn't care less. But maybe the English on your side of the pond has gotten as bad as on ours.

He has not acquired a fortune; the fortune has acquired him. -- Bion

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