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Series 11 News & Spoilers

There seems to be a proliferation of Indian actors on the show overall, and moreso this season. Is this a BBC-wide thing, or more DW? Doctor Who being the only BBC show I watch since Torchwood.

Probably someone looked at some statistics, and as BAME representation gos, it’s not so bad...we have a sizeable Indian/Asian population, and culturally speaking there’s slightly less of a taboo against acting as a career I guess, especially these days. We all have a taboo some where...that’s why it’s usually middle and upper class white people that seek it as career until now. It took things like The Bill and Eastenders to open up the class divide a bit, then other soaps, comedy...mainly to White, Black and Indian (in a sub continental sense, so covering Pakistan et al) working class and lower middle class backgrounds. (Though there’s still a massive taboo in the working class. It’s still not seen as a way to put food on the table or a roof over your head for most of us.) Casting directors are only just waking up to this though.
It’s a PC game at the beeb, but it’s not exactly one that will get people up in arms in most of the country, at least, dependent on age. It depends how it’s handled though. Fundamentally, they are all just British (and mostly northern in Who this year) actors, and most people will just see it that way. There will be people who make it an issue and whinge about it, one way or another, but I guess we will inevitably see that play out, mores the pity. Still. Let’s wait and see.
 
35 seconds, versus 39 for the 2005 version. Short, but still in the ballpark.

Glad there's no face. Sad the opening scream is gone. (And either my least or second-least favorite iteration of the theme since 2005. Might be better than the mess that is the 2009 version, but it's a close race to the bottom.)
Meant to reply to this before but forgot.

I didn't think there was that much a difference in time between this one in the 2005 version. However, this version it's closer to 30 seconds with the additional five seconds being just the title card and the sequence is essentially over. I know that's just nitpicking but I guess that's why it felt shorter than usual for me.

I definitely miss the face so I'm hoping it'll return next series. I was one of those who was bemoaning its absence for years since the show returned before Matt Smith's final series when it finally came back.
 
Meant to reply to this before but forgot.

I didn't think there was that much a difference in time between this one in the 2005 version. However, this version it's closer to 30 seconds with the additional five seconds being just the title card and the sequence is essentially over. I know that's just nitpicking but I guess that's why it felt shorter than usual for me.

I definitely miss the face so I'm hoping it'll return next series. I was one of those who was bemoaning its absence for years since the show returned before Matt Smith's final series when it finally came back.

I’m ok with the missing face, it’s the middle eight that I want.
 
This page is keeping track of the viewership figures for series 11, showing overnights and consolidated (which is +7 days). Also shows AI figures:
http://www.doctorwhotv.co.uk/doctor-who-series-11-2018-uk-ratings-accumulator-88397.htm

There is a comparison table at the end showing first episodes for Doctors.

What is interesting is that though the viewing figures are up, the AI is comparable with Capaldi's seasons which hovered around the early 80s rather than the mid to high 80s for much of Smith and Tennant . Be interesting to see the eventual viewing figures for episode 2 given the overnight lost a million viewers between 1&2, and the eventual AI.

Really though we're going to need a few episodes before we can make any kind of comparison. My gut feeling goes something like this:

1. The notion that people will turn off because the Doctor is now a woman is (as most of us knew) ridiculous.
2. The move to Sunday night and a consistent timeslot is inspired, there's a much bigger captive audience and they're much more likely to watch live.
3. Jodie's viewing figures will continue to beat Capaldi's.
4. People won't necessarily be enjoying Dr Who any more than they did under Moffat/Capaldi.

I don't think the BBC will be bothered by the AI if the ratings stay high, and to be honest my understanding has always been that an AI above 80 is still very good in the grand scheme of things.

It really is very early days though.
 
The AI should tick up a bit over the next couple of episodes as the audience settles down to the people who are watching because they really want to and not just out of curiosity.
 
Do you know how BBC determine the audience members who'll end up scoring the AI?
It will be interesting to see what the AI is like by the middle of the series I think.
 
Of course, something I've never understood, the version of the theme used during Capaldi's era does have a middle eight, it was just never used on the show for some reason.
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Looks like ratings went down, by 1.1 million (which is not a major drop), though the "Consolidated" figure isn't in yet. Nor the AI tally as well.

Looking at the openings for the 5 new series Doctors, the audience sure is ageist by not tuning into Capaldi's opener. Not that Capaldi got the same level of hype as any of the others had, but unlike episodes airing later there is nothing before a new Doctor's premiere apart from hype or lack thereof. There are not too many reasons involved, apart from the clips of the story used being so dismal... which doesn't make much sense since everyone loved Strax and Vastra and the Paternoster Gang...

On the plus side, ratings figures and AI are not synonymous with actual quality or depth. Only that a ton of people bothered to sit through it, regardless if they actually liked it or not.
 


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The Doctor's line 5 seconds in says it all. The Doctor's now Sam Beckett. Is Graham getting the role of Al? I just hope they're historically accurate, including known reports and interviews from Rosa and eyewitnesses. It'd be nice to have a historical that is actually accurate for a change, the fiction of the Doctor observing the events notwithstanding.
 
Some new details from the latest edition of Doctor Who magazine

-Chris Noth plays an American named Robertson in "Arachnids In The UK"
-Shobna Gulati plays Najia, Yasmin Khan’s mother.
-Tanya Fear plays zoologist Dr. Jade McIntyre
-An actual Zooologist was consulted for this episode, so it looks like this too will be a bit educational.
-"The Tsuranga Conundrum" is written by Chris Chibnall and directed by Jennifer Perrot
-The Doctor, Graham, Yasmin and Ryan are patients at a very futuristic hospital.
-Brett Goldstein and Lois Chimimba (Malbi) play medics.
-Episode 6: Demons of the Punjab is written by Vinay Patel and directed by Jamie Childs
-Yasmin is curious about the secrets her grandmother Umbreen (affectionately called Nanni) holds. Yasmin, the Doctor, Graham and Ryan go back in time to India, August 1947. It is a time full of violence and terror in India as it is partitioned to form the new country of Pakistan, fracturing families in the process.

Bradley Walsh: “[Graham] just wants to continue the journey with the Doctor because he hasn’t got anything to go back for. Graham totally trusts the Doctor.”
 
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