I’m absolutely appalled.
Really, really, appalled.
If I was Steven Moffat, I would be wanting words with Jay Hunt, the Controller of BBC One.
I’ve just watched this week’s episode of Doctor Who – Time of Angels. It’s a follow-up to an episode written by Moffat in the last full series, Blink, featuring once again, the Weeping Angels.
But if you saw the episode last night (and not in HD or in Scotland), you’ll have seen the most crass, the most misplaced, and most ludicrous on-screen graphic, utterly ruining the climactic scene of that epsiode.
It utterly ruined the episode, because you were immediately removed from the peril that Moffat and his team had placed the Doctor and his companions. The tension had been carefully built up all episode and in a traditional Who moment, the final scene of the episode saw everyone literally with their backs against the wall.
At this moment, we got the following appear on screen.

A still really doesn’t do it justice as it was an animated Graham Norton that appeared.
These things are called In-Programme Pointers are simply the latest, and by far the worst imports from America.
We’ve had DOGs (Digital On Screen Graphics) which sadly mean that I’m in no rush to switch to HD, as they mess up the nice clean image on those channels. Then there is the credit shrinking. No longer do we get even a couple of seconds at the end of programme before the credits shrink to an illegible size and we get video and a voiceover telling us what’s coming up lest we rush to remote control.
But backing up into the programme itself – especially, but not solely – a drama series, is just about the worst crime you can commit. Perhaps we’ll next see two programmes running at the same time – that should remove any chance to channel hop.
The garish yellow nature of the In-Programme Pointer means that we have to notice it. It’s animated so that even if we’d somehow missed the yellow sign, which in this instance was impossible since the drama was set in dark caves, the movement of the cartoon representation grabs our attention.
The very purpose of the device is to yank us out of the carefully created world we’ve been in with the programme, and beaten around the head to implore us to stay with the channel.
Here’s my promise. I will not watch ANY PROGRAMME that’s promoted this way. At all. Even if it’s really good.
Even if the BBC bought Tremé, the new David Simon programme, and then promoted it using In-Programme Pointers, then I wouldn’t watch it.
Interestingly, HBO doesn’t use these devices. HBO produces shows with long credit sequences and then leaves the credits unmollested at the end.
Television isn’t just a commodity, it’s an art-form.
And in case you think – well Doctor Who – that’s just for kids. Just wait to see this kind of vandalism taking place during big 9pm Sunday night flagship dramas.
Stop this now.
You can see the clip on YouTube here, and there are vociferous discussions going on here and here (to name but two). Charlie Brooker pretty much sums it up here.
[UPDATE] The BBC has “apologised” for last night’s incursion. But before the nation lets out a sigh of relief, read a little closer what the nameless BBC spokesperson said:
“We apologise for the timing of Saturday night’s trail.”
So they admit that it was at possibly the worst moment in the entire episode that they could have place the trail, but significantly don’t apologise for actually running the trail during the programme itself.
In other words, I fear that we’re only going to see more of these intrusions.
My challenge to the BBC is to present some research that shows that more viewers like than dislike these intrusions.
[UPDATE 2] This is the response sent to me, and no doubt hundreds, if not thousands, of others:
Thank you for your e-mail.
The ‘Over the Rainbow’ trail in ‘Doctor Who’ should not have played out on Saturday and we apologise to all ‘Doctor Who’ fans whose enjoyment of the show was disrupted. We recognise the strength of feeling that has been expressed and are taking steps to ensure that this mistake will not happen again.
Thank you again for taking the time to contact us with your concerns.
Regards
BBC Complaints
I’ll take that to mean that we shan’t be seeing any more of these graphics in Doctor Who or any other drama series in the near future on the BBC.
My promise still holds: If I see an In-Programme Pointer in any programme, I will not watch the promoted programme at all.