Are Yearly Breaks in TV Shows A Common Thing In the UK?

[Kane Knight]

Since there's a fair share of Brits on this board, I just figured I'd ask.

Like, I'm watching Luther right now, and I went to check the names of one of the cast members. I noticed IMDB said it ran 2010-2011, so I thought it was dead. But I noticed, then, that they also listed a 2013 season.

This isn't the first time I've seen it in a British series. Not counting Doctor Who, which bridged its last haitus with specials, I've seen more than one series from the BBC do this.

I'm really used to American TV, where a show is unlikely to come back if it's not on for a year. There are exceptions, but I think our ADHD nature makes it unlikely we will remember a show if it's been off for a whole year.

And I can't berate people for it, because seeing a show with no new season listed gives me the knee-jerk " it's canceled" vibe.

Is this just a normal thing, like the shorter seasons and whatnot?

[CSL]

yeah, pretty much. Doesn't seem as "attention short" as the American networks. Things like Luther and Sherlock have even longer gaps because of the stars getting higher spots elsewhere (aka America/Hollywood) or "the critical acclaim" meaning the network will let them do it when they went ala Peep Show. Plenty of shows still do the standard year between opening eps of seasons tho, we just don't have fall schedules/mid-season stuff etc

[The Destroyer]

Yeah TV seasons really don't exist here in the same way they do in the States. They just seem to chuck stuff on whenever it takes their fancy.

Some stuff does come back year after year, but you can never guarantee when in the year it's going to reappear.

[MoFo]

Depends what genre of programming it is, I watch all the gay reality shows and they run almost back to back with up to 6/8 'series' a year.

Some of the stuff is cast iron ie X Factor always runs once a year summer-Xmas. Soaps are constant with no breaks.

[Chavo Classic]

TV scheduling really isn't the same over here. A series can be 6 to 8 episodes and, like people have already said, can just start arbitarily at any point during the year. There's no 'fall season' for example

However with more imports from American tv, not to mention more of them being shown days after broadcast in the US, we are starting to something similar. I remember watching Lost in the UK and being utterly bemused why there was a break in the season for a couple of weeks.

[Chavo Classic]

Another weird thing about British television is that the BBC doesn't have commercials, because it is funded by the public through a TV licence.

We had a teacher from South Africa in my college who simply didn't believe us when we told him. He came in the next day and apologised to everyone in the class because it was such a unique thing. I guess he didn't pay his TV licence since he'd never heard of it.

[Next Big Thing]

UK shows are like movies in and of themselves too. Sherlock and Midsomer murders devote 90 minutes to one episode. I like that, but I can see where it could cause yearlong delays.