• Welcome! The TrekBBS is the number one place to chat about Star Trek with like-minded fans.
    If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Capaldi Leaving Doctor Who

Ratings say the show has lost about 2 million UK viewers on average compared with David Tennant's tenure. 2 million out of 6.5 million. The BBC can't possibly be happy with that.

Part of that might be the long waits between seasons. When you go almost an entire year between episodes, people are going to lose interest and move on.
 
It was still the
I'm sorry, but color me a Capaldi non-fan. He never really gelled for me, enough that I actually stopped watching the show completely last season. And I'm not the only one. Ratings say the show has lost about 2 million UK viewers on average compared with David Tennant's tenure. 2 million out of 6.5 million. The BBC can't possibly be happy with that.


Still the 1st episode of the current season was the 3rd most watched show on BBC that week.and I think the 9th most watched show of that week across all channels.
 
And also, comparing ratings from almost 10 years ago?
Part of that might be the long waits between seasons. When you go almost an entire year between episodes, people are going to lose interest and move on.
You guys aren't getting it. These are AVERAGE ratings for Tennant's and Capaldi's entire runs, not a comparison of 2005 ratings to 2017 ratings. This isn't Capaldi losing 2 million viewers in a year, but being down to only 4.5 million viewers average during his two years to date. And while you make excuses like it's been a year between seasons, the general consensus is that the Capaldi era just hasn't been good for several reasons. Too old, no romantic chemistry with Clara, overly complicated scripts, etc. I even see supporters saying they're bummed that Capaldi is leaving just as he's finding his groove in the program. Sorry, but it should not take you three years to hit your stride if you're the right person for the role.
 
You guys aren't getting it. These are AVERAGE ratings for Tennant's and Capaldi's entire runs, not a comparison of 2005 ratings to 2017 ratings. This isn't Capaldi losing 2 million viewers in a year, but being down to only 4.5 million viewers average during his two years to date. And while you make excuses like it's been a year between seasons, the general consensus is that the Capaldi era just hasn't been good for several reasons. Too old, no romantic chemistry with Clara, overly complicated scripts, etc. I even see supporters saying they're bummed that Capaldi is leaving just as he's finding his groove in the program. Sorry, but it should not take you three years to hit your stride if you're the right person for the role.


Where are you getting this 4.5m figure from?


The season that aired in 2015 his average was closer to 6m per episode.

http://www.barb.co.uk/viewing-data/weekly-top-10/

I'm not saying numbers aren't down, but numbers are down many shows.
 
It's easier to market a younger actor. It's limiting to market someone like Capaldi in 2017. For the health of the brand, he needs to be replaced.

It's unfortunate. Capaldi is one of the best to play The Doctor.
 
*sigh*

You guys aren't getting it. These are AVERAGE ratings for Tennant's and Capaldi's entire runs, not a comparison of 2005 ratings to 2017 ratings.

I don't think YOU get it. At what POINT IN TIME do Tennant's average ratings come from? Now? Or when he was the Doctor? You are comparing average ratings from 7 years ago to now. Very very very few shows that last as long as 7 years have the same ratings.

This isn't Capaldi losing 2 million viewers in a year, but being down to only 4.5 million viewers average during his two years to date. And while you make excuses like it's been a year between seasons, the general consensus is that the Capaldi era just hasn't been good for several reasons. Too old, no romantic chemistry with Clara, overly complicated scripts, etc. I even see supporters saying they're bummed that Capaldi is leaving just as he's finding his groove in the program. Sorry, but it should not take you three years to hit your stride if you're the right person for the role.

The general consensus? Did you take a poll? Of your friends or...?
Because, the general consensus has been that Capaldi has been a great Doctor but, it's been the scripts that have let him down.
 
Where are you getting this 4.5m figure from?

The season that aired in 2015 his average was closer to 6m per episode.
From The Sun.

You're comparing apples to oranges. The 4.5 is the average of overnights. You're getting the average of the finals. If you want to compare finals, Tennant's last year was hitting 8m and above regularly.
http://www.doctorwhotv.co.uk/episodes/series-4-2008

Likewise, Matt Smith's last season trounced him.
http://www.doctorwhotv.co.uk/episodes/series-7-2012-2013
 
Well if it's in the Sun it must be true...

Times change and viewing figures tend to be down across the board. Who still gets very healthy ratings and is still one of the BBC's flagship shows. Does it get as many viewers as it did ten years ago? Probably not, but a lot of other shows in the last ten years have died and gone to televisual heaven. The majority of showrunners probably wish they had Who's current numbers.
 
As I pointed out in the Ratings Thread, the final figures for "The Pilot" are actually up on Episode One of Series 9 and "Smile" should also easily beat Episode Two. So while there was that drop-off between Series 8 and 9 things have stabilised now at a point that still leave it as one or the most watched shows of the week.
 
Why is it so hard to believe that made the general audience isn't just as interested in Who as it once was?
There are things I am passionate about, doesn't mean everyone else is.

But, the fact is, it's still doing very well, (for having been on TV for over 10 years), it sells well internationally, and is about to get a new producer and new Doctor.
 
Lets put things in context and go back 7 years to 2010

http://www.barb.co.uk/viewing-data/weekly-top-10/



DW was getting around as has been pointed out 8m and has dropped to around 6.5m in 2017

Eastenders was getting around 9.5m in 2010 and has now dropped to around 6.5-7m mark.

So the fall in DW is audiance is roughly the same as across other shows and in fact might be slightly less percentage wise.
 
Last edited:
Matt Smith's last season was in the highly publicized anniversary year, when Doctor Who had the spotlight and the public's undivided attention. Of course it had higher ratings.
So did Smith's other years.

Spin it all you guys like. DW is hardly safe as a "flagship show." The ratings aren't that far from where they were in the mid 1980s, and it was cancelled not long after.
 
It will be telling to see what Who looks like after Capaldi. If it looks a lot like the Tennant years (young male lead; young female companion; lighter stories), then I think that will be the network showing that they think the recent show has been on the wrong track. I notice that so far this year the Capaldi stories seem lighter in tone (more kid friendly), so they seem to be edging that way even before the new actor steps in.
 
So did Smith's other years.

Spin it all you guys like. DW is hardly safe as a "flagship show." The ratings aren't that far from where they were in the mid 1980s, and it was cancelled not long after.

You're seriously comparing the ratings the show got in the 80s with now? In the 1980s when the UK had four TV channels and Who barely had any competition at all in the sci-fi stakes? To put this in context with Eastenders again, when the soap launched in 1985 it attracted over 17 million viewers, it's Christmas episode in '86 was watched by 30 million people! Eastenders doesn't remotely get those kind of viewing figures anymore, in fact nothing in the UK gets those kinds of numbers anymore (even something utterly unique like the 2012 Olympics opening ceremony didn't reach quite that high) because now people don't just have 4 channels, they have dozens. Look at something extremely popular like a Strictly or X-Factor final and the most they'll get is 11/12 million.

I don't think anyone would argue that Who is as popular now as it was during Tennant's run, but given how long its been running, the lousy scheduling and the general across the board dip in ratings, it's still very healthy.

I'm sure the BBC has a point where the show wouldn't be viable anymore (and we need to factor in that Who's more expensive to make than something like Mrs Brown's Boys) but I think we're several million viewers away from hitting that at the moment
 
Spin it all you guys like. DW is hardly safe as a "flagship show." The ratings aren't that far from where they were in the mid 1980s, and it was cancelled not long after.

How many programmes are broadcast in the UK each week? Twelve years after it's return DW still sits firmly in the Top 10-15 of them. If that's cancellation territory, god help the other 99% of shows out there.
 
Forget about all that for a second. The Mirror posted that the First Doctor WILL return for the Christmas Special.

Any real truth to that? Thoughts?
 
If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Sign up / Register


Back
Top