Funding for Doctor Who
Dear British Broadcasting Corporation,
Please can you tell me 1. How much it cost to make and produce series 7 of Doctor Who? 2. Of that amount what percentage is funded through the TV license fee and what percentage through funds raised by your commercial arm BBC Worldwide? 3. Is there any policy at the BBC to make episodes, use formats etc which would allow greater appeal of Doctor Who in the USA over Britain? 4. Why the BBC has chosen to broadcast fewer classic Doctor Who serials in the UK compared with BBC America?
Yours faithfully,
Graham Childs
Dear Mr Childs,
Thank you for your request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, as detailed in your email below. Your request was received on 2nd October 2013. We will deal with your request as promptly as possible, and at the latest within 20 working days. If you have any queries about your request, please contact us at the address below.
The reference number for your request is RFI20131421.
Kind regards
The Information Policy & Compliance Team
BBC Freedom of Information
BC2 B6, Broadcast Centre
201 Wood Lane
London W12 7TP
www.bbc.co.uk/foi
Email: [BBC request email]
Tel: 020 8008 2882
Dear Mr Childs
Please find attached the response to your request for information,
reference RFI20131421
Yours sincerely,
The Information Policy and Complaince Team
BBC Information Policy and Compliance
BC2B6, Broadcast Centre
201 Wood Lane
London W12 7TP, UK
Website: [1]www.bbc.co.uk/foi
Email: [2]mailto:[BBC request email]
Tel: 020 8008 2882
Fax: 020 8008 2398
References
Visible links
1. http://www.bbc.co.uk/foi
2. mailto:[BBC request email]
3. http://www.bbc.co.uk/
Dear British Broadcasting Corporation,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of British Broadcasting Corporation's handling of my FOI request 'Funding for Doctor Who'.
I do not believe questions about how the licence fee are spent in relation to specific programmes should be excluded under the category of Journalism and Art because I am a licence fee payer. If the BBC were a private company and not publicly funded I would agree. The whole purpose of the FOI request was to determine how much of the money spent on Doctor Who is raised by the licence fee and how much by the BBC's corporate arm, BBC Worldwide.
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/f...
Yours faithfully,
Graham Childs
Dear Mr Childs,
Thank you for your email, in relation to your FOI request relating to 'Doctor Who' (Reference: RFI20131421). The information requested is excluded from the Act because it is held for the purposes of ‘journalism, art or literature.’ The BBC considers that the derogation protects the journalistic, artistic and literary integrity of the BBC by securing a creative and journalistic space for programme makers to produce material for broadcast free from interference by those who would seek to influence our output.
As stated in our response to you, which I attach again for your reference; the BBC does not offer an internal review when the information requested is not covered by the Act, so you are therefore unable to appeal our decision using this process. If you disagree with our decision you can appeal to the Information Commissioner. Contact details are: Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF telephone 01625 545 700. http://www.ico.gov.uK
The BBC's understanding of the scope of the derogation has been informed by numerous cases, including the recent consideration by the Supreme Court, in the case of Sugar (deceased) v British Broadcasting Corporation and another [2012] UKSC 4, of the Schedule 1 'derogation' for the public service broadcasters in relation to journalism. Lord Phillips noted the BBC’s ‘important right to freedom of expression’ and the link between Schedule 1 of the Act and Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Additionally, as also recognised by the Supreme Court, it recognises that public service broadcasters caught by the Act (BBC, Channel 4, S4C, MG Alba) should not be placed at a disadvantage to their commercial competitors.
In practical terms, the BBC has interpreted this to mean that we are not required to supply information held for the purposes of creating the BBC's output or information that supports or is closely associated with these activities.
You might find it useful to review the Decision Notices from the Information Commissioner, regarding the application of the derogation to information held by the BBC. These Decision Notices can be found at the following URL: http://www.ico.gov.uk/tools_and_resource... using the search function, if you select the BBC as the 'Authority' and FOI 1 as the 'Section' you will find a number of relevant Decision Notices.
Kind Regards,
The Information Policy and Compliance Team
BBC Information Policy and Compliance
BC2B6, Broadcast Centre
201 Wood Lane
London W12 7TP, UK
Website: www.bbc.co.uk/foi
Email: mailto:[BBC request email]
Tel: 020 8008 2883
Fax: 020 8008 2398
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