Doctor Who: The Complete Matt Smith Years (16-discs) November 4th, 2014

[Jezza]

Originally Posted by StingingVelvet

It's pretty incredible the BBC shot four seasons in a row of a hit show on SD video in 2005-9. If anything puts a spotlight on the BBC's budget issues it's that.

Originally Posted by simonynwa

Thanks for that - it doesn't surprise me with the BBC. They aren't the most forward thinking sometimes when it comes to their shows.

Bear in mind though at the time HD cameras were very expensive. They were offered when the show began production in 2004 but turned them down due to impacting on budget of both the production and visual effects, added to that they weren't sure the show would be a success.

It's also worth considering the UK has a very different model to the US for TV and more often than not it all comes down to budget, which often is quite low, unlike US shows which a very large ones. This is why HD only became mainstream for UK shows about 4-5 years ago and why so few episodes are produced at any one time.

In hindsight it's a frustration, but in context it's understandable.