a twenty year plan

One of the things that Russell says in an upcoming interview with SFX is that there's literally a 20 year plan for Doctor Who. That doesn't mean that Russell will be Executive Producer for life -- that's not what he said -- just that he's well aware that Doctor Who is a 45 year old franchise, and really *should* be around forever. And it is worth the BBC making plans now about how to continually keep it fresh.

I'd be curious how other franchises that could well be around several decades from now are managed, and if that sort of thought is given -- we can assume there will be a Superman or Spider-Man in twenty years. The Disney characters will still be around in twenty years. There will probably be a Star Trek and a James Bond.

I think what's unusual is that this is one of the few times I've heard the story runner actually think about how to keep the concept fresh over that long sort of run -- perhaps that's because of the BBC's public ownership, but it's still something that I think is fascinating to think about.