Doctor Who and Engagement
Update: this was a ‘drama’ number as provided by Ofcom (see comments). I think they made a huge mistake in the story by having it so prominent on the screen and NOT doing anything with it.
I’ve gotten used to US TV programmes thinking cross-media. When I see a real phone number, or a website address I expect there to be something on the end of it that relates to the programme. It’s good marketing, it adds depth to the story, it gets people engaged. It can just add a something extra or can be part of a alternate reality experience.
So in tonight’s UK episode of Doctor Who, when a real phone number was displayed prominently not once but twice, I rang it expected there to be something on the other end of, something simple like a Doctor Who voicemail message to add a little spice, “Sorry I can’t get to the phone right now, I’m too busy saving the universe” or something like that.
But when I ring it (07700900461), I get the message that it’s not been connected right now – which means it’s a real number somewhere but they’ve turned it off somehow. Either:
- someone screwed up in the ‘imaginary’ numbers department had a massive Fail Whale attack and put something up that connected. I doubt it, as they’re normally pretty good at this.
- Or the BBC just forgot to add something at the other end. Possible I’ll admit, but again, they’ve been pretty good at other transmedia ideas.
- Or it collapsed under the sheer volume of 7or 8 million people dialling it at the same moment. Pretty sure that this is the answer. Hopefully it’ll work later in the week
I grabbed the screenshot from the iPlayer, because, surprisingly, the episode is there straight away. It normally takes a few hours.
I tried the number twice. First when it flashed up the second time and again when the programme finished… Nothing. Was really, really, REALLY hoping for something.
I was genuinely trying to help call the Doctor! Ha!
I have a feeling it broke. They’ve got it listed in the ‘Fear Factor’ as well with the kids talking about calling it. There’s no way they can have all of those refs and NOT have something at the end of it. The Doctor Who team are pretty good at tying all these things together, given the previous efforts.
That number 07700900461 is in a special range allocated by Ofcom for drama purposes and those numbers will never be allocated for anything real, full marks to the BBC for getting that right. See http://www.ofcom.org.uk/telecoms/ioi/numbers/num_drama for info about these special drama ranges
Ahhh, thanks very much. However, I still think they made a mistake not connecting it to something given the prominence on the screen.
I noted the number down but forgot to ring it after the programme ended. I agree it would have been a great Easter Egg, especially if it could give a clue as to how the cliffhanger gets resolved
I agree with Rachel. Though I understand the need for numbers that can be used in dramas (like the US’s 555 numbers), it would have be considerably cooler to have used a real number which contained a message related to the programme.
Ah well…
As a tenuous link, if you take out the 0’s from the number, you’re left with 779461, which if you use predictive text comes back as “spyin?”
Ok, that is tenuous. So what does spyin mean???
Ha! I love it, Jon!
I think Jon was nearly there –
We tried calling the number too (sooo sad and addicted haha) after rewinding to jot it down – and think we’re somewhere close to figuring the hidden code out: (there has to be one – this is Dr Who!)
1) 07700 is your fake TV dialing code – ignore this
2) Using predictor text on a mobile, and ignoring the non-letter connected numbers – ie zeros, text in what’s left – 9461 (1 being punctuation) and what do you get?
WHO!
We’re still trying to figure out if there is anything more, but we were quite chuffed with this so far :)
I don’t need to phone Doctor Who, I talk to him all the time. The Doctor is a real gent, always got time to talk to me. He’s on holiday on Alpha Centauri B 3, at the moment, living it up with the proceeds from the series.
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That’s so cool, Dolly!! Seriously, seriously cool.
Oh… I <3 Doctor Who… Why won’t he ask me to be his assistant?!
After what he did to Donna, would you want to be his assistant. All that lovely character development out the window, back to her shallow tempy self.
By the way, Donna ‘lives’ round the corner from me. I’m seriously wondering how they afford the mortgage given the size of the house ;)
I think its some sort of code for “DoctorDonna”… i only just saw it today.
The phone number may be fake, but http://www.07700900461.mobi actually works!