2 million fewer viewers
- Thread starter JRoss
- Start date
They didn't not watch it because the episode they hadn't seen was naff.
They side stepped the premiere because the final last year was naff.
They side stepped the premiere because the final last year was naff.
As I've said elsewhere, I don't think quality or complexity is a major issue in the declining viewing figures. There may be some effect of Capaldi's age losing some of the younger viewers, but I'd say it's just run its course. It was never going to maintain the incredible popularity of the early revival. Everything has a season.
I can't see the Beeb letting it go completely, but relegating it to specials at Easter and Christmas and if we're lucky an occasional three part special is probably the end result.
I'd be O.K. with that if they're good.
I can't see the Beeb letting it go completely, but relegating it to specials at Easter and Christmas and if we're lucky an occasional three part special is probably the end result.
I'd be O.K. with that if they're good.
Made for tv movies or something is probably the better way to go yes.
Also, don't forget, a lot of people stream these days, either illegally the next day, or waiting for it to come on Netflix or something. I know someone who only just found out that basicly the entire season this year is made out of two-parters, and is now considering waiting for the season to end and then binge it all at once.
Also, don't forget, a lot of people stream these days, either illegally the next day, or waiting for it to come on Netflix or something. I know someone who only just found out that basicly the entire season this year is made out of two-parters, and is now considering waiting for the season to end and then binge it all at once.
It was still the BBC's most watched show on Saturday night, plus it was on opposite X-Factor and, as others have said in the episode thread, people are more likely to watch X-Factor live rather than time shift it, hell I was out Saturday evening so watched Who on iPlayer a couple of hours after it was on. Be interesting to see what the figures are once all the iPlayer etc. views are taken into account. I suspect there'll still be over 6 million viewers, which might be down on the Tennant/Smith heydays but is still exceptionally healthy for a drama.
I think Relayer1 is right to a certain extent, it has been going a long time, aside from something like Silent Witness I'm not sure the BBC has any drama that's been going as long. Spooks ran for 10 years, Waking the Dead for 9, Merlin 5 years.
Of course the thing Who has over those series is that it reinvents itself. Ok Silent Witness has with Emilia Fox and co taking over from Amanda Burton and co, and Spooks had a steady turnover of cast members, but the very essence of Who shifts with each new show runner/Doctor.
I suspect these numbers are still more than healthy enough for the BBC, and I further suspect that before cancelling/curtailing the show they'd take action to amend the production staff. "Great job Stephen but we'd like you to concentrate on Sherlock now." and "Peter, we've loved your interpretation of the character but we've decided to go in another direction with the series." And then they unveil a new show runner and announce Olivia Coleman as the 13th Doctor...
I think Relayer1 is right to a certain extent, it has been going a long time, aside from something like Silent Witness I'm not sure the BBC has any drama that's been going as long. Spooks ran for 10 years, Waking the Dead for 9, Merlin 5 years.
Of course the thing Who has over those series is that it reinvents itself. Ok Silent Witness has with Emilia Fox and co taking over from Amanda Burton and co, and Spooks had a steady turnover of cast members, but the very essence of Who shifts with each new show runner/Doctor.
I suspect these numbers are still more than healthy enough for the BBC, and I further suspect that before cancelling/curtailing the show they'd take action to amend the production staff. "Great job Stephen but we'd like you to concentrate on Sherlock now." and "Peter, we've loved your interpretation of the character but we've decided to go in another direction with the series." And then they unveil a new show runner and announce Olivia Coleman as the 13th Doctor...
I could see them doing specials, and I'd be OK with them, personally, if they were feature-length, like the Sherlock ones. An hour and a half of Doctor seems like a decent deal. Put out five or six of them next year (including Christmas of 2015 and 2016) and I'd say its a cool deal.
And KEEP Capaldi. Seriously. He's crazy good in the part.
And KEEP Capaldi. Seriously. He's crazy good in the part.
The final figures will be fine once the Time Shifted / iPlayer views are included. But the problem is that the figures used to be a lot better than simply just 'fine'. The days when the series was in the weekly Top 10 for all channels seem to be well and truly over.
Here are the actual numbers so far:
Live: 3.326m (So a little over 3 million actually watching at 7.40)
Live + VOSDAL: 4.645m (And extra 1.3 million watched the same night.)
+ Day 1: 5.737m (And a little over a million more on Sunday.)
So by the time the final number comes in it will be safely over 6 million but certainly nothing to get excited about.
The real problem of course is that 1st episodes tend to get more viewer than the rest of the series.
I'd be interested to see what the BBC Audience Research found out about people's reaction to him. I suspect that for the more general audience an unpleasant and unlikable Doctor wasn't high on their wishlist.
The long breaks between season will ultimately ruin the show. It's been 9 months since we've gotten anything new, and the stuff we did get last season had a generally mediocre reaction. It wasn't bad; it just wasn't anything particularly exciting.
Add to that the fact that people are turning away from live TV and you're going to continue to get declining ratings. People just don't watch TV like that anymore.
I know a ton of Doctor Who fans, but none of us watched the episode on Saturday night. We'll eventually watch it online. Last season I watched every new episode on Sunday morning via iTunes. Most people I know have better things to do on a Saturday night than wait around for a TV show to air.
And honestly, the few times I have watched Doctor Who on TV have been horrible experiences. Moffat's writing style is not conducive to commercial breaks.
Add to that the fact that people are turning away from live TV and you're going to continue to get declining ratings. People just don't watch TV like that anymore.
I know a ton of Doctor Who fans, but none of us watched the episode on Saturday night. We'll eventually watch it online. Last season I watched every new episode on Sunday morning via iTunes. Most people I know have better things to do on a Saturday night than wait around for a TV show to air.
And honestly, the few times I have watched Doctor Who on TV have been horrible experiences. Moffat's writing style is not conducive to commercial breaks.
I don't see anyone saying "The End Is Nigh".
But people talked about the ratings when they were high so they're still going to talk about them when they're no as high anymore.
Which don't exist on the BBC.
Well, they do exist on BBC America, and they break episodes up in such a way that makes them damn near unwatchable.
Why should it be? It's home channel is BBC1 a channel which doesn't have ad breaks so no need to write around them.
As for fewer viewers as has been mentioned it was on against a show which most people would watch live rather than timeshifted. Its start time might not also have helped at 19:40 (I believe), 19:00 might be a better start time.
Yeah that thought had occurred to me, usually the show loses viewers as the series progresses, but you never know this year might be the reverse (I know I know...)
I don't know, he isn't Colin unlikeable, and the show did need a change, much as I loved Smith and liked Tennant the next Doctor needed to be someone very different, and it isn't like snarky characters can't be popular (Sherlock, House etc). that said he may have put some people off, but then Smith might have, Tennant might have, that's the nature of the beast really. I suspect the next Doctor (whenever they're cast) will be more like 10 or 11 than 12 though...
Sensible words
He isn't writing a show to fit commercial breaks around though!
I don't think the time matters. People used to say that showing it after 7pm / not having it in Late Spring-Early Summer would improve the ratings but neither of them did.
