The Media Guardian tries to make sense of Doctor Who's falling ratings. But with so many variables and factors to consider, poor old Jason Deans comes across as needing a whiteboard and a book of tables.
All the same, weren't Who's ratings at around the 6.8 million mark this time last year as well?
May 30, 2006 | Reply
Yep, pretty certain. Am sure that the Gallifrey people have a note of it somewhere...
May 31, 2006 | Reply
Is it worth pointing out that in today's TV industry, there's really no such thing as "only" a 32% share? :)
May 31, 2006 | Reply
Yes. And it'll probably be third-highest rated show of the week or something, after Corrie and EastEnders.
May 31, 2006 | Reply
Tricky to say; as you said, there are too many variables. This time last year we were later in the series and ratings were lower — according to OG, the second episode of The Doctor Dances at the end of May got a 6.17million average audience and a 35.9% audience share. And that was the second one of the 'Are you my mummy?" storyline which most people reckon was the best of the series. But Episode 7 in the run got 7.7million viewers. They aren't comparing like with like, and I don't know how they can draw anything meaningful from the figures.
There seems to be a tendency for some critics to knock this series more than the last one, and the Guardian bloke would dearly love to be able to say that the fall-off is because the viewers haven't taken to the new series. I can't see any reason to do that, quality-wise. Both series have been equally patchy, but this series' highs so far (Sarah Jane, Madame de Pompadour) have matched last series', and the lows (Catnuns, disappointing Cybermen) haven't been anywhere near as embarrassingly bad as the farty aliens.
May 31, 2006 | Reply
In addition to the MediaGuardian article you linked to, there's also this blog piece, in which Stephen Brook ties to pin any downturn in ratings to the fact he didn't like the episode, and that it contained an in-joke recognisable only to long-standing soap trivia buffs.
Mind you, he was right about the "you fought a war" speech; it was a bit preachy...
June 1, 2006 | Reply
Outpost Gallifrey does a nice clear-up job that shows that ratings are up on last year!
June 1, 2006 | Reply
Cool -- I'll add a link to that piece from my blog entry on the matter.