BBC Sherlock Fan Forum - Serving Sherlockians since February 2012 » Start of production of series 3 moved?

kazza474 · January 3, 2013 2:44 am

I've always understood that it would be aired around halfway through the year at the earliest; that was stated just after the last series ended so I don't see any change in when they planned to air the series at all.
Sue Vertue tweeted ages ago that the transmission dates would not be affected so I don't know what everyone is moaning about.

It just means their post production team will work their butts off for us.

Last edited by kazza474 (January 3, 2013 2:45 am)

Davina · January 3, 2013 11:49 am

Bless their little cotton socks...or should that be pants?

erunyauve · January 3, 2013 12:02 pm

ancientsgate wrote:
Oh, I've been convinced from the beginning of there being talk that there was even going to be a season 3 that the US would not see its chopped-up Masterpiece Theater version until spring 2014. It would make me happy-happy if it's sooner, but I'm not expecting it. May 2014 is my guess, based on nothing but my own gut feelings about it.

I'm wondering if it's popular enough now to get a near-simultaneous showing, especially with the cliffhanger ending? I'm wondering why it takes so long, especially since it only encourages people to resort to illegal downloads.

And there's just no excuse for chopping it up. PBS works for us - we give them our tax money to provide television that is independent of advertising. I realise that they need sponsors because they don't get enough public support (and that's certainly not likely to change), but if the sponsors affect the programming, PBS isn't doing what we're paying them to do. (In other words, why are we giving them money?) Frankly, we'd be better off if the show were on a regular broadcast channel. The networks would just do a two-hour time slot.

ancientsgate · January 3, 2013 1:16 pm

erunyauve wrote:
I'm wondering if it's popular enough now to get a near-simultaneous showing, especially with the cliffhanger ending? I'm wondering why it takes so long, especially since it only encourages people to resort to illegal downloads.

Understandably, BBC wants first dibs, world-wide. My understanding is that their programming is paid for by universal public taxation-- anyone in Britain who has a TV pays a specific BBC tax to support it. So I imagine, contractually, they have that first dibs thing written into any agreements for syndication rights to other countries.

And there's just no excuse for chopping it up

They drop certain scenes to make room for their fund-raising and PBS advertising and still have it fit into a 90 minute format. Something has to go, and so they chop out whole sections they deem unnecessary. Pisses me off, but advertising in general pisses me off, but I realize someone has to pay the bills.

PBS works for us - we give them our tax money to provide television that is independent of advertising. I realise that they need sponsors because they don't get enough public support (and that's certainly not likely to change), but if the sponsors affect the programming, PBS isn't doing what we're paying them to do. (In other words, why are we giving them money?) Frankly, we'd be better off if the show were on a regular broadcast channel.The networks would just do a two-hour time slot.

MT is all proud as a peacock about their association with BBC. Downton Abbey is the big (peacock) feather in their hat at the moment; the next season is about to be shown here, at long last. AFAIK, they haven't even shown Parades End yet. Everything is put onto their schedule at their leisure and at their discretion. I imagine they have reasons for all the decisions they make, but we're not privy to those reasons.

And meanwhile, for those who can and will, illegal downloads or something like getting a temporary UK ISP is about all that's left to us if we don't want to wait. I might have to give up my membership here on the forum when the time comes, just to avoid extreme spoilerage. We will wait *months* after the UK sees whatever's coming up. And speaking only for myself, if that causes me to "moan" about it, well, IMO I and the other Americans here are entitled.

besleybean · January 3, 2013 2:16 pm

I can only agree and also repeat: Benedict agrees with you.

kazza474 · January 4, 2013 4:39 am

Davina wrote:
Bless their little cotton socks...or should that be pants?

Always best to stop the blessing at the socks, who knows what we may find otherwise!

Anyway, I stumbled across this just now, I KNEW I had read Sue Vertue mentioning an approximate transmission date.

http://www.digitalspy.com.au/british-tv/s129/sherlock/news/a401715/sherlock-series-three-expected-to-air-in-autumn-2013.html">Sherlock series three 'expected to air in autumn 2013

"August earmarked as a possible air date"

Now that was BEFORE the filming was moved back however there is still plenty of time for them to have it ready for August/September.

ancientsgate · January 4, 2013 6:44 am

Sherlock84 wrote:
As im aware, Series 2 episodes didn't air over here until May. When Series 3 comes are episodes going to be on itunes or online? I refuse to wait 4 more months after the season premieres.

It cannot go up on Netflix or be sold on DVD until after its PBS airing in the States. Masterpiece Theater pays the BBC a lot for the airing rights, and it fully expects everyone here to have to flock to them if they want to see Sherlock. The only alternatives I know of, if you don't want to wait until spring '14, is to find an illegal pirate site to download it, or arrange to get a UK ISP address, so you can "fool" the BBC online presence into thinking you paid your BBC taxes and are deserving to see the show online, right after its UK airing.

Last edited by ancientsgate (January 4, 2013 6:45 am)

Ivy · January 4, 2013 10:33 am

kazza474 wrote:
Davina wrote:
Bless their little cotton socks...or should that be pants?

Always best to stop the blessing at the socks, who knows what we may find otherwise!

Anyway, I stumbled across this just now, I KNEW I had read Sue Vertue mentioning an approximate transmission date.

http://www.digitalspy.com.au/british-tv/s129/sherlock/news/a401715/sherlock-series-three-expected-to-air-in-autumn-2013.html">Sherlock series three 'expected to air in autumn 2013

"August earmarked as a possible air date"

Now that was BEFORE the filming was moved back however there is still plenty of time for them to have it ready for August/September.

I remember that Sue said (I think it was in Edinburgh) that the delivery date to the BBC is in August and they will then decide when it will be aired.

kazza474 · January 4, 2013 11:59 am

ancientsgate wrote:
The only alternatives I know of, if you don't want to wait until spring '14, is to find an illegal pirate site to download it, or arrange to get a UK ISP address, so you can "fool" the BBC online presence into thinking you paid your BBC taxes and are deserving to see the show online, right after its UK airing.

I wouldn't be too concerned about the BBC getting their money out of us, we all end up buying the DVDs anyway. I don't feel any 'guilt' over it, lol.

ancientsgate · January 4, 2013 1:06 pm

Ivy wrote:
I remember that Sue said (I think it was in Edinburgh) that the delivery date to the BBC is in August and they will then decide when it will be aired.

Yes, the Sherlock folks will have a delivery date for when they have to have everything filmed and edited, and then the BBC folks will decide where to first air the episodes to make them the most money. I think this is the way the biz is run all over the world. Deadlines, deadlines....

Ivy · January 23, 2013 9:07 am

I think someone who isn't aware yet should ask herself/himself why there isn't any advertisement?!
It's the same here in Germany. Rundfunkbeitrag! "Sherlock" is aired by ARD here in Germany it is also a public TV channel and we have to pay a fee (a too high fee in my eyes). So BBC just has to plan what will be the best day and time to air it, because of viewing rate, although I think it doesn't matter with a show like this, they could air it on a hot Friday evening in August and would get millions of people in front of the TV.

ancientsgate · January 23, 2013 11:44 am

Ivy wrote:
I think someone who isn't aware yet should ask herself/himself why there isn't any advertisement?!
It's the same here in Germany. Rundfunkbeitrag! "Sherlock" is aired by ARD here in Germany it is also a public TV channel and we have to pay a fee (a too high fee in my eyes). So BBC just has to plan what will be the best day and time to air it, because of viewing rate, although I think it doesn't matter with a show like this, they could air it on a hot Friday evening in August and would get millions of people in front of the TV.

Here in the US, Sherlock airs as part of Masterpiece Theater, which is on PBS (Public Broadcasting Service). PBS is funded by private donations and government backing. They are *always* pleading poverty. And while the shows on PBS are run without commercial interruption, I notice there's at least 5 minutes at the beginning and end of each program filled with long advertisements-- things like Viking Cruises, for instance. Nothing too lowbrow or declasse (no Budweiser ads, lol), but believe me, the advertisements are there, just arranged differently during each show than on the regular networks.

BBC doesn't do this? There's not one speck of corporate or private sponsorship or advertisements visible anywhere, 24/7?? I find the idea that BBC is completely not-for-profit to be doubtful at best, but maybe someone can explain to us how that works.

Last edited by ancientsgate (January 23, 2013 11:46 am)

Ivy · January 23, 2013 11:53 am

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_do_the_BBC_have_no_advertisements

You could read that, too. It explains it very well:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television_licence

Ivy · January 23, 2013 12:01 pm

Although I find the "fee" too high, it's 17,98€ per month in Germany. it is wonderful to watch a film or series without ads. I can't watch film on private channels anymore, the ads are up to 10 minute every 20-30 minutes, so a film that is 90 minutes long is then 120 minutes. It's tedious. But compared to the BBC our two big public channels ARD and ZFD have some ads, but between two shows not during.

ancientsgate · January 23, 2013 12:12 pm

Ivy wrote:
Although I find the "fee" too high, it's 17,98€ per month in Germany. it is wonderful to watch a film or series without ads. I can't watch film on private channels anymore, the ads are up to 10 minute every 20-30 minutes, so a film that is 90 minutes long is then 120 minutes. It's tedious. But compared to the BBC our two big public channels ARD and ZFD have some ads, but between two shows not during.

The idea of a licensing tax for TV is unknown in the US, but we definitely do pay for PBS through our general tax paid to Uncle Sam. A lot of PBS's funding comes from federal taxes, paid for by everyone, but that makes their funding subject to being changed at the whim of the legislators, unfortunately. They might have 500 million to spend this year, but next year, oh, gee, we need that money to build roads in Alaska, so you'll have to make do with 250 million. Must be very very frustrating for the PBS bean counters and showrunners. The balance of PBS's funding comes from individual viewers and corporate and private sponsors.

I cannot stand TV ads, and in the US on commercial channels, they now take up about 20 minutes of every hour. It's *nauseating*; they go on and on and on and on for 5 minutes at a time, breaking into every show 3 or 4 times for every half hour, the most inane, childish, stupid stuff you can imagine. If I'm forced to sit through it, I mute the sound and look away, that's how annoying TV ads are to me. So in self-defense, I use my DVR to record virtually everything I watch, and then simply watch the recording, rather than the live show. That enables me to just fast forward through all the ads and network-related yap. Works for me.

harleyq · January 23, 2013 4:37 pm

ancientsgate wrote:
I cannot stand TV ads, and in the US on commercial channels, they now take up about 20 minutes of every hour. It's *nauseating*; they go on and on and on and on for 5 minutes at a time, breaking into every show 3 or 4 times for every half hour, the most inane, childish, stupid stuff you can imagine. If I'm forced to sit through it, I mute the sound and look away, that's how annoying TV ads are to me. So in self-defense, I use my DVR to record virtually everything I watch, and then simply watch the recording, rather than the live show. That enables me to just fast forward through all the ads and network-related yap. Works for me.

I usually mute the commercials too. They are very annoying, but sometimes they give me a chance to run to the bathroom and every once in a while I see a spot for another show/movie or something or other that catches my interest. So, given the nature of tv today, they're a small and annoying price to pay. Though I'd love to be able to do the DVR thing.

crazybbcamerican · January 23, 2013 4:50 pm

I agree with harleyq and ancientgate, I'm another person who records almost everything I watch (which really isn't much lol) and then when we subscribed to Netflix, I was in heaven :D The only good thing with our cable company is the "On Demand" channels, that's how I was able to watch all of the UK Being Human series and some others I really like. We used to have BBC and BBC America, but now I can only get BBC America.

I am hoping that they will do a lot of advertising for Series 3, even here, though, because I don't want to miss it. I'd even be willing to pay for it as a Pay-Per-View!

Mattlocked · January 23, 2013 4:57 pm

I remember my sister and my father visiting my uncle who was living in the US for a while.
30 years ago or so. They came back and told us: "It's unbelievable! On tv they have commercials all the time! Not only before or after, but even several times during a movie! You don't even know whether it's still the movie or already the ad when you're watching. Thank god we don't have this nonsense in Germany!! I would stop watching movies on tv!"

Well..........................
The commercials sometimes are so long meanwhile, you can't only run(?) to the bathroom but go shopping!

Ivy · January 23, 2013 6:45 pm

Mattlocked wrote:
Well..........................
The commercials sometimes are so long meanwhile, you can't only run(?) to the bathroom but go shopping!

Exactly, or fly to Australia and back.

ancientsgate · January 23, 2013 7:09 pm

Mattlocked wrote:
I remember my sister and my father visiting my uncle who was living in the US for a while.
30 years ago or so. They came back and told us: "It's unbelievable! On tv they have commercials all the time! Not only before or after, but even several times during a movie! You don't even know whether it's still the movie or already the ad when you're watching. Thank god we don't have this nonsense in Germany!! I would stop watching movies on tv!" well.......................... The commercials sometimes are so long meanwhile, you can't only run(?) to the bathroom but go shopping!

There are loads of cable/satellite movie channels and premium channels that run no ads at all, and you can watch movie uninterrupted in their entirety. A lot of them are part of our basic digital cable line-up. But if anyone also wants to spend the $$, they can subscribe to HBO, Showtime, etc, and have a pretty good movie experience, all told. But yeah, on regular network channels, they have *commercials*, plus the movies are all edited and chopped up to fit into their time frames.

You around the world who watch American TV shows more or less "free" (and I know there are different forms of free, some more free than others, lol), well... we've paid the price for the cost of their production by being subjected to those hours and hours and eons of advertisements. Urgh.