Here are a few reasons why producers choose to put a show on hiatus:
- Natural between-seasons break: name one show that films continuously and never takes a break. Did you come up with any? I thought not. (If you did, let me know in the comments; I'm curious.) All shows take a break in between seasons. This break can last from weeks to months- any longer than a few months, and it's a proper hiatus.
- Demand for actors/actresses: take Benedict Cumberbatch. Everyone wants him. And I'm not just talking about the Cumbercollective; he's being cast in all sorts of amazing movies and TV shows. He can't film two things at once, so he has to take a break for other things.
- Time required to write: episodes can take a long time to write, especially in the case of Sherlock. 90-minute episodes require a lot of thought, effort, and time. After all, you wouldn't want them to hurry and give you a bad product, would you?
- Time required to film: a typical episode takes longer than a week to write, so you can't air a new episode every week with no breaks. That's simple math.
- Complications: take Doctor Who for example. Every time an old Doctor leaves, a new actor has to be found to be the next Doctor. There was a break between the end of series 4 and series 5 (with a few specials, but not a regular stream of episodes), and I suspect it was because BBC was looking for someone to be the Eleventh Doctor. (I don't know if that's the reason. Does anyone know?)
- Lack of interest: if a show becomes unpopular, it may go on hiatus or even be cancelled.
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