2 million fewer viewers

[MacLeod]

And you can't complain with a Top 10 show and Top 5 once reality shows/soaps and major sporting events are taken out of the euqation. Besides the number 1 show GBBO finishes this week. And with England exiting the Rugby that might impact on the ratings that future matches get.

But TV viewing figures have been dropping in general for years now.

 

[Mr Awe]

Given that all shows are losing viewers and DW is still in the top 10, there is no ratings crisis for DW. DW is losing no more viewers relatively than other shows. Much ado about nothing.

Mr Awe

 

[StCoop]

Final Figure for Episode 2 : 5.71 million and out of the Top 10 to 17th place. (But 4th place for Dramas.)

 

[MacLeod]

Still in the Top 10 for channel though.

 

[Starkers]

Be interesting to see what the figures are like after the blooming rugby finishes! Also once Strictly starts losing contestants it's Saturday show will shrink in running time pulling Who back.

I'm not sure 90 minute episodes are the way to go, it works for Sherlock but Sherlock is primarily an adult show aimed at adults, and whilst I know people liked them, I have to say I wasn't impressed with Planet of the Dead or The Waters of Mars so I don't think of the specials year as that special.

What worked better was Children of Earth airing every night for a week, that was proper event television, maybe Who could do something similar? "The Search for Gallifrey?"

I think Richard Madden would be a terrible choice for the Doctor, it isn't even just that he's a handsome leading man type, he's just not quirky, or at least he's never given any indication in anything I've seen him in that he could do quirky or alien.

 

[Relayer1]

I'm not sure 90 minute episodes are the way to go, it works for Sherlock but Sherlock is primarily an adult show aimed at adults, and whilst I know people liked them, I have to say I wasn't impressed with Planet of the Dead or The Waters of Mars so I don't think of the specials year as that special.

What worked better was Children of Earth airing every night for a week, that was proper event television, maybe Who could do something similar? "The Search for Gallifrey?"

The previous specials weren't all that special, but that's not the fault of the format. With enough care and attention, and the right writers they could be. It's not an accident that Sherlock's so fantastic. There's more chance of a great result from specials than from full seasons with all the filler and sub standard stuff.

A week long 'event' ? Sure, could be great !

 

[RoJoHen]

There's more chance of a great result from specials than from full seasons with all the filler and sub standard stuff.

I know this is my American viewing habits showing, but it's crazy to me that seasons that are only 12 episodes long could even have filler.

 

[Guy Gardener]

The Mentalist had 5 and a half seasons of filler.

 

[Starkers]

Hey I liked the Mentalist!

Worth remembering that sometimes what even the producers imagine will be "filler" turns out to be anything but: Blink anyone?

I can see the point about three great stories as opposed to 12/13 variable stories, but it would mean our portion of Who for the year would be limited to less than a month rather than three months, and all if one of those specials is disappointing that's a third of your year's Who that's crap.

Plus 12 episodes gives you a broader canvas and allows you to tell smaller scale stories, funnier stories, scarier stories. I'd fear that if all we had were three feature length tales then the temptation would be for them all to be Super Epic!!

 

[Mr Awe]

Somehow I doubt that the producers consider Blink to be filler when they were making it, but I could be wrong!

The BBC just needs to find a way to make 12 episode series of Doctor Who happen. This is not a case where we have to choose quality over quantity either. 12 episode seasons aren't that long to begin with. And, as we saw with the series of specials, they weren't really that much higher in quality even though there were fewer.

Doctor Who is still popular and sells a lot of merchandise. Yes, I know the BBC isn't supposed to consider that, but I'm sure it's still a consideration. If they can make money off it, it'll help subsidize their other less profitable productions.

I also agree that I like how DW seasons have a variety of types of stories too.

Mr Awe

 

[Starkers]

Well filler might be the wrong word, I doubt any episode of Who is intentionally made as filler per se, but I imagine some are perceived as being more important than others to the series when a season's being put together. I doubt RTD or Moffat thought the Doctor lite episode featuring stone statues would end up being one of the best of episodes of Who ever.

Re the Specials, neither one is terrible, but they did just feel like regular episodes padded out a bit. They were so unconnected and isolated from one another as well. Having David Tennant eating Easter egg doesn't really make it an Easter special!

 

[Captaindemotion]

I also found the specials a little so-so, though I do love Tennant's final 2 farewell episodes.

I think we have possibly developed a bit of a sense of entitlement after 10 successful years of Who and we may have to adjust to the nasty realisation that there's no guarantee that the show will run incessantly like Eastenders or whatever. Since it started its run the likes of Atlantis and Robin Hood have come and gone. Yes, Who is an iconic show that ran from 1963 - 1989 but when its figures fell, it was axed and the same could happen again. There were constant Star Trek shows on TV between 1987 when TNG aired and 2003(?) when Enterprise got axed. Nothing is sacrosanct.

I very much hope that full seasons of DW will continue to be made for the foreseeable future but ultimately a few specials a year or a season every other year would be better than cancellation.

 

[MacLeod]

Well some episodes might be be more budget focused so as to save money for a bigger episode. But given the nature of DW in essence it only has 1 standing set the console room can mean it tends to need more expensive location shoots, and given it's regular cast is 2-3 can't save much on paying extras.

 

[Marsden]

If they are sticking with 12 episodes, couldn't they have on one a month then rather that 12 weeks of shows and nothing the other 3/4 of the year? It would be almost like a special, being just once a month and if they do want to make it a longer episode, then just make it a longer episode instead of making us wait a month part two. I would like that.

When they were counting down to the 50th anniversary they had a different Doctor special once a month starting in Jan with the First Doctor and I enjoyed that quite a bit!

 

[The Wormhole]

If they are sticking with 12 episodes, couldn't they have on one a month then rather that 12 weeks of shows and nothing the other 3/4 of the year? It would be almost like a special, being just once a month and if they do want to make it a longer episode, then just make it a longer episode instead of making us wait a month part two. I would like that.

Full seasons are actually more profitable than specials, this was a problem RTD dealt with in 2009.

When they were counting down to the 50th anniversary they had a different Doctor special once a month starting in Jan with the First Doctor and I enjoyed that quite a bit!

Those "specials" were just a story representing each Doctor with a new segment of interviews shown afterwards. There was very little money sunk into that.

 

[Newspaper Taxi]

The problem with specials is that if they're not grounded on an awesome story then you've got a padded out 'meh' episode. If they're grounded on an epic story like "The Water of Mars" then they're special indeed. 'Course, at the same time, "The End of Time" was like thirty minutes of The Doctor chasing the Master around a junkyard, so there's always the danger of being padded out.

I'm not against the format entirely, though. I just hope they concentrate on the fact that they're 'specials' and not just 'more Doctor Who for starving fans."Maybe a series of specials would be a good time to go for stories that fans have been clamoring for, like a special where Susan comes back or a double Doctor story with McGann.

 

[Starkers]

See I still don't think Waters of Mars was that epic. It's a decent enough base under siege story padded out with lots of running/roboting down corridors and with an interesting ending where the Doctor threatens to go all Valeyardy...for ten seconds before Adele shoots herself and he comes to his senses!

I still feel that it was missing a special. Planet of the Dead should have ended with Lady Cristina going off in the Tardis with the Doctor. There should have then been another special linking it with WoM. This intermediate special would have started out like a fun romp but got darker as it went on until, at the end, Cristina is killed. Imagine then the Doctor showing up on Mars, haunted by yet another companion's death and by his own failure, suddenly Timelord Victorious makes even more sense.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

I still feel that it was missing a special. Planet of the Dead should have ended with Lady Cristina going off in the Tardis with the Doctor. There should have then been another special linking it with WoM. This intermediate special would have started out like a fun romp but got darker as it went on until, at the end, Cristina is killed. Imagine then the Doctor showing up on Mars, haunted by yet another companion's death and by his own failure, suddenly Timelord Victorious makes even more sense.

Very close to my thoughts, except that instead of an "intermediate special," I'd have had the Doctor take Lady Cristina to Bowie Base One where she gets infected with the water. Otherwise, the rest would be the same.

 

[Relayer1]

The problem with specials is that if they're not grounded on an awesome story then you've got a padded out 'meh' episode.

If they're grounded on an epic story like "The Water of Mars" then they're special indeed.

Maybe a series of specials would be a good time to go for stories that fans have been clamoring for, like a special where Susan comes back or a double Doctor story with McGann.

I agree - a padded out episode won't cut it. Pretty much every episode of Sherlock is 'WTF ?', and so should Who specials be !

I can't agree about Waters of Mars though - pretty forgettable stuff.

'Special' specials ! Susan, McGann, old companions, other Doctors, Captain Jack, yes to all !

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

I can't agree about Waters of Mars though - pretty forgettable stuff.

Really?