Why the long wait?

It's an agonising wait for the 3rd season of Outlander

Doctor Who will be back in April following a sixteen month break since season 9 finished. Since then we have had two Christmas specials but the wait for a full season has still been painful. In June, Game of Thrones will air its season 7 premiere, a full two months later than normal. Only a couple of days ago, it was announced that Outlander's third season wouldn't be airing until September, a full fourteen months since the season 2 finale. It seems that the makers of some of our favourite shows delight in making us wait, but why?

In Doctor Who's case, it isn't a new thing to have long breaks between seasons from time to time. David Tennant's departure aired seventeen months after his last full season aired! As for Game of Thrones, the later season is down to the crew having to film in Winter to account for the more wintry scenes they require. For Outlander, the reason is that they simply want to put out the best series they possibly can and you can't blame them for that.

Of course, having a long wait between seasons can be a good thing for the viewer. More time means for time to film a show. It also means that the show gets to spend more time in post-production which then means that we get a more polished product. It also means that we are more likely to get a full uninterrupted season as opposed to the split season model favoured by shows such as The Walking Dead and Once Upon A Time.

We had to wait 3 months for Rick to finally meet
King Ezekiel

The split season model, where we get a two or three month break in the middle of a season, is something that often frustrates the viewer. With a show such as The Walking Dead which has a standard sixteen episode season, eight episodes just seem to fly by. Often we are still getting over the premiere when the mid season finale airs. The good thing with this model though is that we only get a six month break between seasons as opposed to the nine months we'd get if The Walking Dead aired an uninterrupted season.


What do you think of the long wait for your favourite shows? Would you prefer shows like The Walking Dead to have a full uniterupted season or are you a fan of the split season model? Please, feel free to comment below...