Doctor Who and the Canadian Brand Awareness
A press release today from BBC Worldwide indicates that:
In an unprecedented deal, BBC Worldwide has appointed Buzzworthy Licensing + Entertainment as the merchandising agent for the Doctor Who brand in Canada. This is the first time an agent has been appointed solely for the territory.
As part of the three-year agreement, secured by Anna Hewitt, BBC Worldwide’s Head of International Licensing, Buzzworthy will actively seek partner companies to produce and distribute new and existing Doctor Who products. These will include toys, clothing and gift items from both the first and second series. In addition, Buzzworthy will also work closely with BBC Worldwide Canada to secure ongoing promotional opportunities for the series.
This marks an interesting shift in BBC Worldwide’s thinking about Doctor Who in Canada and could point to something interesting when it finally gets aired in the US. No longer will we be subject to the vagarcies of importing Doctor Who related product from the UK; the success of it airing on the CBC has ensured that the BBC have got someone local to start taking care of it.
Whether or not this means we’ll see toy sonic screwdrivers in Toys R’Us in Winnipeg and Ninth Doctor books in Chapters in Moncton remains to be seen, but it’s pretty darn promising I’d say.
Posted by Graeme on Wednesday, August 10 at 7:04 am
11 Comments...
Wow, this sounds great. It certainly sounds the the BBC & CBC are interested in seeing Doctor Who as a long-term prospect in Canada, and we might not have to worry about getting charged duty to get those talking Daleks or farting Slitheen dolls!
Posted by Luca on 08/10 at 08:33 AM
Doctor Who books might be coming back to the stores!?!
To quote The Beach Boys “Wouldn’t it be nice?”
Posted by Ryan on 08/10 at 09:16 AM
Cool news! Now, we just need a Canadian DVD release!!!
Posted by Andrew on 08/10 at 11:00 AM
I’ve already seen the return of Doctor Who books at Chapters since the new series has aired. Would be nice to see other items pop up in stores.
Posted by J Garth Wilcox on 08/10 at 11:48 AM
I was under the impression that the CBC was providing some producing funds or something towards the new series so a larger investment in making sure the series is successful in Canada seems kind of logical…
...but it’s still great to hear! Can’t wait to get a sonic screwdriver of my own! I hope that the products aren’t easy cash-ins and are of the same quality as the British stuff appears to be.
Posted by Allan Spears on 08/10 at 04:08 PM
Just got my new series novels today. May 19 to August 10. Just under 3 months! Let’s see if this new agreement can help beat that mark. Let’s hope so.
Posted by Ryan on 08/10 at 06:40 PM
Alas, Buzzworthy’s agreement with the BBC does not include the books or the DVDs, so we’re stuck with the current arrangement (though there I gather there is hope this might improve with the books anyway).
Posted by Graeme on 08/11 at 09:05 AM
Doesn’t include books?
They must be joking. They would be the single biggest selling item out of any merchandise.
Posted by Ryan on 08/12 at 08:51 AM
As the *only* new series merchandise to come out yet has been the books, the Vanilla DVDs and the Panini Season One Companion, that’s a pretty small playing field Ryan. Perhaps you could wait a couple of months before pronouncing judgment on what is their ‘best-selling’ merchandise
Posted by Graeme Burk on 08/12 at 09:39 AM
They should have included the books as well… as least as distribution goes. *sigh* Maybe Chapters in other provinces carry the BBC Books imprint, but I can say that it’s not the case in Montreal. In fact, it’s quite the contrast with back in the early 1990s, when it was still pretty easy to get the Virgin imprint books…
Thank goodness for the Internet and for Tenth Planet’s standing order w/ free international shipping deal—after waiting 3 months too for Amazon.ca to ship The Clockwise Man, there’s no way in hell I’m dealing with them again for Doctor Who novels!
Posted by Lady Jaye on 09/02 at 12:57 PM
Does anyone know when the CBC is going to start airing season 2
Posted by Bill on 10/16 at 05:58 PM
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