It's not a diabolical Dalek plan; it's more an outcome of what is increasingly becoming the chaos of a nonlinear system.
Doctor Who is coming back for South African viewers after a very long absence, but coming back in the "wrong" way.
Unfortunately this "took-way-too-long" development - of which the net effect in the end is positive - is actually very bad for a particular type of South African consumer.
Distilled down the loser is ... the DStv subscriber who used to watch Doctor Who on BBC Worldwide Africa's (now BBC Studios Africa) BBC First channel on MultiChoice's satellite pay-TV service.
Let's start in the past with the background, then the present and what's happening now, before we get to what the problem is.
First the past
That carried on until season 9 of Doctor Who in 2015 with Peter Capaldi that was shown on BBC First (DStv 119) when the BBC relaunched its channel set on DStv in South Africa.
Everything was hunky-dory, and you couldn't really justifiably criticise anything the BBC and DStv did around Doctor Who, except perhaps a few too long breaks between seasons where BBC Worldwide took just a tad too long to show the next season and South Africa was mostly a season behind.
In 2014 I got upset at the BBC's so-called "global tour" of Doctor Who when the 12th Time Lord, Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman went on a "global" tour to every continent - except for Africa.
African viewers, it seemed, were not really good enough for Doctor Who.
After the 9th season, Doctor Who on DStv's BBC First also just stopped.
Since then it's been the longest wait, of course with the expectation that Doctor Who would return, but not knowing when. I also knew also that the BBC didn't really consider the Doctor Who ratings "good enough", which is why it wasn't a priority to really buy and schedule Doctor Who's 10th season.
In July I still asked the BBC in Africa when Doctor Who would return, and was told there's nothing definite yet.
Now we get to the present
The announcement also included that Doctor Who's upcoming 11th season is going to be on Showmax with Jodie Whittaker as the "new" doctor.
(Keep in mind South Africans haven't even seen the 10th season yet on DStv, or the exit of Peter Capaldi, who, according to what we saw last, is still the doctor and will be for a whole season.)
"Whovians and new fans from across the continent can come to Johannesburg and celebrate the return of one of the BBC’s most successful franchises with an immersive TARDIS experience, ahead of the launch of the all-new series starring award-winning actress Jodie Whittaker," said BBC Studios Africa.
"The new series heralds a brand-new era for Doctor Who with a world-class team at the helm."
"Bigger and bolder than ever, Series 11 marks the arrival of the Thirteenth Doctor – a super-smart explorer of the universe, alongside a team of new friends and delightful characters," said the statement, adding that "it will be available exclusive to Showmax later this year."
At Comic Con Africa 2018 "fans of the show will be able to come together and enjoy a screening of the final episode of Series 10, where the new Doctor makes her first appearance."
Now the sad and disappointing problem
It's a new player in a new video world and all sharks have to keep swimming or die.
Showmax bought BBC Studios content and BBC Studios was willing to sell Doctor Who to Showmax - just like it sold Doctor Who to Cell C's black SVOD service which is where I watched Doctor Who last two months ago.
Furthermore Showmax, marketing-wise, wants to do an "activation" and have a type of a physical brand presence at Comic Con Africa 2018 (with BBC Studios maybe as well) - and again, nothing wrong with that.
I also don't really "blame" BBC Studios and BBC Studios Africa. I really like and respect what BBC Studios Africa keeps accomplishing in South Africa and Africa. Also, BBC Studios produces shows, has shows and wants to sell those. Companies exist to sell.
The problem is maybe that BBC Studios should have sold Doctor Who first to the BBC's channels instead of Showmax, but if the channels part of a company doesn't want it, and you can get money for it elsewhere, who isn't going to sell it to a buyer who wants it?
Here is the bad problematic part though: I have a big problem with what it means for dedicated DStv subscribers and BBC viewers who have been loyal and who have paid for over a decade to watch Doctor Who on MultiChoice's DStv and who now can't watch or follow it anymore.
After first cultivating and creating an audience - something DStv and the BBC did together, these subscribers' are having their show ripped away from them which is now continuing on another platform.
M-Net has done somewhat the same by starting certain shows on certain of the M-Net packaged channels on DStv - mostly M-Net (DStv 101) - and then after a few seasons flinging them away to other channels or higher-tiered channels where subscribers can no longer see them, don't know where to find them, or don't know that new seasons have started elsewhere.
Secondly, while the deal for season 11 also includes season 10 for Showmax, it's beyond ridiculous how the 10th season of Doctor Who is being downplayed as merely a phone booth burn-off to just get through, to now get to the ooh-so-exciting season 11.
It comes across as a desperate corporate marketing attempt to make it look as if South Africa is/has always been one of the kids in class who also have the latest pair of Nike.
Meanwhile the truth is that the powers that be could be bothered less with Doctor Who, while real, ardent fans waited and waited and waited.
It took two and a half years since season 9 for South Africans to get access to season 10, and now viewers must suddenly "binge" through it in days - and not on DStv's BBC First but on Showmax - just to be cool enough for Comic Con. That ain't right, Face of Boo.
Thirdly, why is Doctor Who suddenly cool enough for Comic Con Africa (and yes, it is) when it didn't matter before?
All of the sudden fuzz - "ooh, Jodie!", "ooh, one of the BBC’s most successful franchises" - sounds fake and put-on given that South Africans and DStv subscribers heard and were basically told nothing about the show for over two years.
The fact is that Doctor Who wasn't supported in South Africa, fans were not deemed worthy enough of answers about where the show is and when it' would be coming back and it didn't matter enough to comprehensively keep them or the media up to date.
Now there's a flurry of announcements, an activation and whatnots. But why does it feel like it has such a sense of fakeness to it?
A final River Song
There are however episodes I hugely love but I can't say that I'm in love with the series.
I have however watched all of the episodes of the 2005 series onwards - every season - and I have rewatched a lot of episodes on in-flight entertainment systems, and DVD box sets, and will continue following, watching and tracking it.
But there are real fans of Doctor Who, people who really love the show.
There are DStv subscribers who possibly subscribed and remained subscribed to DStv in order to see the show as part of the matrix of shows making it worthwhile for that person to have DStv.
I feel bad for them, and for DStv subscribers who watched Doctor Who, and for DStv subscribers who tuned to a BBC channel because they watched it there, expect(ed) it to continue to be there, and who are experiencing a show being ripped away from them - exclusively - after they waited for it to return for almost 3 years.
So, Who caused this? Who is at fault? No-one really and everybody really. A system with too many options, players, available avenues, and verticals led to it. Welcome to the TV world as it is now, and changing even more.
Unintended effects are part of complex systems and with South Africa's TV-archology adding more and more constantly moving parts that all interact with each other, it's likely that things like this are going to happen even more and more in the future.
If you're very loyal to a particular TV show and want to see how its story continues or concludes, get ready to have to work even harder, and to pay even more for more different things, if you truly want to keep following it.
