Doctor Who [7]

Doctor Who Ratings: 2005-Present (7a)(7b): (asterixed episodes are from the Moffat era, a double asterix indicates he wrote it but it was in the RTD era)

13.31m - Voyage of the Damned
13.10m - The Next Doctor
12.27m - The End of Time (2)
12.11m - A Christmas Carol *
12.04m - The End of Time (1)
10.81m - Rose
10.77m - The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe*
10.57m - Journey’s End
10.32m - The Waters of Mars
10.08m - The Eleventh Hour*

9.87m - The Snowmen*
9.84m - The Christmas Invasion
9.74m - Planet of the Dead
9.35m - The Runaway Bride
9.24m - Tooth and Claw
9.22m - Rise of the Cybermen
9.14m - Partners in Crime
9.04m - The Fires of Pompeii

8.86m - The Impossible Astronaut*
8.86m - The Unquiet Dead
8.78m - The Stolen Earth
8.71m - Smith and Jones
8.63m - Dalek
8.62m - New Earth
8.61m - Last of the Timelords
8.59m - The Time of Angels*
8.50m - Flesh and Stone*
8.44m - The Bells of Saint John*
8.42m - The Beast Below*
8.42m - A Town Called Mercy*
8.41m - The Unicorn and the Wasp
8.41m - Gridlock
8.33m - Asylum of the Daleks*
8.31m - School Reunion
8.22m - Doomsday
8.20m - Victory of the Daleks
8.19m - Army of Ghosts
8.10m - Let’s Kill Hitler*
8.09m - Turn Left
8.06m - Father’s Day
8.05m - Midnight
8.01m - The Long Game

7.98m - World War Three
7.97m - The End of the World
7.97m - The Doctor’s Wife
7.90m - The Girl in the Fireplace**
7.85m - The Curse of the Black Spot*
7.84m - Utopia
7.84m - Forrest of the Dead**
7.82m - The Angels Take Manhattan*
7.74m - Human Nature
7.68m - Boom Town
7.68m - Vampires in Venice*
7.67m - The Power of Three*
7.67m - The Wedding of River Song*
7.63m - Aliens of London
7.63m - The Age of Steel
7.60m - The Girl Who Waited*
7.58m - The Pandorica Opens*
7.57m - Dinosaurs on a Spaceship*
7.55m - Amy’s Choice*
7.51m - The Sound of Drums
7.51m - A Good Man Goes to War*
7.50m - Planet of the Ood
7.49m - Cold Blood*
7.45m - The Name of the Doctor*
7.45m - The Rings of Akhaten*
7.41m - 42
7.37m - Cold War*
7.35m - The Rebel Flesh*
7.33m - The Doctor’s Daughter
7.30m - Day of the Moon*
7.23m - The Shakespeare Code
7.21m - The Family of Blood
7.19m - The Lazarus Experiment
7.14m - Fear Her
7.11m - The Empty Child**
7.07m - Night Terrors*
7.06m - The Sontaran Stratagem

6.97m - Evolution of the Daleks*
6.93m - Closing Time*
6.91m - The Parting of the Ways
6.86m - The Doctor Dances**
6.81m - Bad Wolf
6.77m - The God Complex*
6.76m - The Idiot’s Lantern
6.76m - Vincent and the Doctor*
6.72m - The Almost People*
6.70m - The Big Bang*
6.69m - Daleks in Manhattan
6.66m - Love & Monsters
6.64m - Nightmare in Silver*
6.62m - Blink*
6.61m - Hide*
6.53m - The Poison Sky
6.50m - Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS*
6.49m - The Hungry Earth*
6.47m - The Crimson Horror*
6.44m - The Lodger*
6.32m - The Impossible Planet
6.27m - Silence in the Library*
6.08m - The Satan Pit

Viewing figures of course dont tell the whole stroy.

I personally think Turn Left is better than Lets Kill Hitler, but its lower in the ratings.

Blink only comes in at 6.6million and its regarded as a modern classic of Who.

I would rate Rings of Akenten higher than Gridlock, but it got a million less viewers on overnights.

But the general pattern is clear- every series has high viewing figures and some low and most somewhere in the middle. And there is no appreciable diffeence between series.

That was kind of where the dip occuered.

The Name of the Doctor – 5.5 million (overnight) 7.45 million (final figure)
Nightmare in Silver - 4.7 million (overnight) 6.64 million (final figure)
The Crimson Horror – 4.61 million (overnight) 6.47 million (final figure)
Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS – 4.9 million (overnight) 6.50 million (final figure)
Hide – 5 million (overnight) 6.61 million (final figure)
Cold War – 5.7 million (overnight) 7.37 million (final figure)
The Rings of Akhaten - 5.5 million (overnight) 7.45 million (final figure)
The Bells of Saint John – 6.18 million (overnight) 8.44 million (final figure)
The Snowmen – 7.6 million (overnight) 9.87 million (final figure)
The Angels Take Manhattan - 5.9 million (overnight) 7.82 million (final figure)
The Power of Three – 5.5 million (overnight) 7.67 million (final figure)
A Town Called Mercy – 6.6 million (overnight) 8.42 million (final figure)
Dinosaurs on a Spaceship – 5.5 million (overnight) 7.57 million (final figure)
Asylum of the Daleks – 6.4 million (overnight) 8.3 million (final figure)

http://www.doctorwhotv.co.uk/doctor-who-series-7-ratings-accumulator-2013-46939.htm

Under 5 million from the overnights from Hide (4.98) forward.

But again, it was not really my point. More that the show was seen by some, like the papers, as having som issues, which the 50th would have dispelled. And not one I feel terribly strongly about defending.



Looking at that list, I think the one I really enjoyed this series was Cold War. Very athmospheric.

The final figure for Hide is higher than 3 episodes from the NuWho's alleged 'golden era' of viewing figures. It fits well within series dips of the past.
Hell it did better than the impossible planet- much hyped and the return of Davros.

If I seem a bit zealous on this matter Blue its the old Whovian fear- ratings figures were used as an excuse to get rid of it the last time.
And you get sick of opening newspapers and reading their predictions of doom when they compare an overnight figure like Hide against a consolidated xmas special or something and try to tell people its lost 6 million viewers when it actually hasnt.

Petty    that f****** list talk about overkill.

What its a very interesting list   (well I find it interesting to see where episodes are placed)- if only to show that the headline viewing figures are pretty meaningless.

According to viewing figures - Fear Her- generally considered the worst episode of Nu Who was more popular than over half the episodes ever shown!
And Blink, probably the most seen episode of NuWho only got about 6 million.

The moral is you cant judge Who just on the headline figures, its not that simple in a multiple format, multiple viewing  world (for example series 6 of Doctor Who was down on the overall averages by a small amount- but the figures dont include the online downloads from places like itunes- where it was the most downloaded drama that year)

yeah but you kinda went overboard It scares people off from mentioning anything remotely that could be possibly construed as critisizm, whats all this Whovian Fear guff?

Viewing figure arguments are a hot topic in Whovian land (check out the ratings thread on Gallifrey Base for proof of the heat generated)-arguments about ratings were used by the BBC to justify canning it so its a sensitive area when people wrongly accuse the show of losing viewers- but I found the list interesting in its own right with a lot of stuff on it I didnt know either. I didnt put up just in defence of a point (I had in fact just gone to get an average figure for one episode in each series and stumbled on this list on the process and thought it interesting enough to post)

And the viewing figure list does effectively put to rest any notion the show is doing worse (or for that matter better) in the UK than it ever was. The viewing figure spread of series 7 falls within the parameters of all preceding series.

its like Blue makes this innocent remark about ratings and you immediately get him in a list headlock, grapple him to the floor and make him see the error of his ways, recant all heresy, or he gets it with your sonic screwdriver

Facts will out Mrs Figg, facts will out. And I like big geeky lists full of detail and information plainly set out (quite hobbity), always have.  

 

Pettytyrant101 wrote:Viewing figure arguments are a hot topic in Whovian land (check out the ratings thread on Gallifrey Base for proof of the heat generated)-arguments about ratings were used by the BBC to justify canning it so its a sensitive area when people wrongly accuse the show of losing viewers

Something I've learned from your posts in this thread over the years, Petty, is that if I ever want to get into Doctor Who and really enjoy it, I should never, ever visit Gallifrey Base.

That's probably good advice (the news section is good, as its always spoiler free and only official announcements) but during the RTD years it was full of people who hated everything he was doing, and now in the Moffat years its full of people who hate everything he is doing. And it will be exactly the same for whoever takes over next. (hell there are still people vehemently arguing about the Hitchens years)

Due to its long length of time on screen Who is a bit odd when it comes to fans (you might have noticed) its a bit like taking the last 50 years worth of Hamlet performances and productions from different actors and theatres then saying they are all the same thing, they are but everyone will interpret it different, showrunners emphasis different aspects, or raise new ones.
And on top of that people grew up with their version so it has sense of ownership about it.
Its a rum thing and no mistake.

Don't worry about it, Petty. I agree that the newspapers coverage about viewing figures was over the top.

I don't accept however that the move to iPlayer and recording to watch later explains all of the loss in overnight viewing figures. It smacks a bit to much of the easy excuse to me.

And I can't agree that a flagship BBC program in a prime timeslot pulling less than 5 million viewers overnight for four weeks running doesn't look like that program has some issues capturing the viewers imagination.

At the very least it signifies that for certain people the program has stopped being essential viewing, and has turned into something they catch up with when they have time.

Anyway, the newspaper and BBC rumblings still being there means it wouldn't really impact on my original point. Which was a positive one. Namely that any potential criticism from those quarters might have been stemmed by the 50th.

I know just what your talking about on Whos previous cancelation. Though I think a lot of that was down to Michael Grade coming in and saying this show made on a shoestring wasn't good enough when compared to major American motion picture franchises, like Star Wars and Star Trek. And pretending to fix that by cutting it's funding further and messing with it's broadcast time. I think Michael Grade has pretty much admited that he intended to cancel the program from the moment he was hired as Director General. I don't think the viewing figures ever was more than a excuse.

At the very least it signifies that for certain people the program has stopped being essential viewing, and has turned into something they catch up with when they have time. - Blue

I agree with that- but that effect is across the board with drama in the UK- its not exclusive to Who, and Who has been ahead of this curve since iplayer ect came into being as it has a younger demograph than most drama.
Where I would disagree with you is I dont think it matters to the BBC- they are concerned by how many people watch it- not exactly when they watch it.
The notion that its somehow more important that people watch when broadcast is I think an out of date notion in todays media word (and especially for a channel that does not have to rely on any advertisers).

"I can't agree that a flagship BBC program in a prime timeslot pulling less than 5 million viewers overnight for four weeks running"- Blue

Yet the final figures for those episodes are well within the normal series range- when episodes start to set a new bottom figure thats when its a concern- that hasnt happened so far- all those episodes you refer to finished higher in the end that episodes from the RTD era when it was getting higher overnights (but lower catch up) -Silence in the Library- a much praised and liked episode is the second least watch episode of NUWho going on the figures alone. And Blink didnt do much better.

"I don't think the viewing figures ever was more than a excuse."- Blue

Agreed, they were an excuse- he moved it from its weekend slot to midweek opposite Coronation Street- the longest running most popular soap in the UK- and it still did well in the circumstances.
But it was the excuse Grade needed to pull a show he hated.
Its for this reason Whovians get touchy when the press manipulate figures like Grade did to make a false case that its losing viewers.

After show with Moffat, Smith ect on a panel following the screening of the 50th- very enjoyable, great camaraderie-



Its in six parts, but very engaging.

Yeah, I guess a lot of it can be put down to whether one believes what one reads in Private Eye.  

"The BBC have confirmed that the world premiere of Matt Smith's final adventure starring as the Doctor, The Time of the Doctor, will be broadcast on BBC One at 7:30pm on Christmas Day. The festive adventure will also herald the much-anticipated debut of Peter Capaldi in the title role.

Spoiler:

-Gallifrey Base

so basically The Sun was right.

They were right about the stuff thats in the official press release- which is probably all they got leaked in the first place, and then added some inventive details. Same as usual.

BBC America have now confirmed that they too will be broadcasting The Time of The Doctor on Christmas Day, in the primetime evening slot of 9:00pm EST/8:00 CST.
- Gallifrey Base

Interview with Moffat- the ratings issue comes up at the end- even Moffat gets crabbit about it!

David- did you ever get the sound synch sorted in the River Song vid?

I do get where you are both coming from, Petty.

Now this might have been slightly lost in the earlier discussion, but what did you think of Cold War?

I think that was the story that made the strongest impression on me this series. I think it showed a real hankering to the the classic series with the confined space, monster on the loose and no way out. Though Horror of Fang Rock is one of my favourite stories ever in Doctor Who, so I might be slightly biased.  

It's available here for anyone who hasn't seen it.

I enjoyed Cold War Blue- theres a review of it on here somewhere- its most definetly a nod back, to especially the 2nd and 3rd Doctors and all those base under siege style stories.
I thought the confined space of the sub was a great idea and I was worried for a while during it they were going to reduce the Ice Warriors to just another bad guy- so glad they didnt make it so simple.

Yeah, when you mention it it's also quite reminicient of those early Pertwee stories.  

It's always a bit scary when they handle old monsters, but I think they came across quite well. Though I'm not a big fan of the non armour design.

It just felt like it recaptured some of the athmosphere of some of the classic series stories. With all the budget and technology they have today the temptations is of course to go a bit over the top and make everything bigger and "better." But I think there is real quality potential in these smaller and more claustrophobic locations. And those kind of situations are a real good vehicle for properly good actors as well.