Doctor Who’s return to the BBC didn’t quite go off with the expected bang bosses were hoping as rating dropped to 2million and fans are convinced they know why
Doctor Who has received its lowest overnight ratings to date – having attracted only 2 million viewers. The sci-fi series made its grand return on Saturday night, with Ncuti Gatwa reprising his role as the Doctor and Varada Sethu becoming his new companion Belinda Chandra.
According to TV Zone, the sci-fi series was beaten by the Gladiators final on Saturday night, with the reality competition being watched by a whopping 2.9 million viewers. While Doctor Who has garnered a cult following since it first aired in 1963, many fans have been making the same comment – that the drop in views is down to the show landing on BBC iPlayer earlier in the day. One Doctor Who fan said: “This doesn’t bother me because SO many people will have watched it on BBC iPlayer earlier in the day. Those ratings will be the important ones I think.”
Another person wrote: “As its on iplayer from the morning I guess ppl watch on there.” While a third tweeted: “That’s what happens when you ridiculously release it on Iplayer early.”
And another person added: “Considering it is a joint iPlayer/BBC One release, it makes reporting the overnight figures a bit one-sided, with the 7-day/28-day release that adds iPlayer not getting that much publicity.”
But this is not the first time the BBC show has been dealt a similar blow. Last year it was reported that all eight episodes of the 14th series was averaging 2 million overnight views.
A BBC spokesman told The Times last year that overnight ratings are not an indication of the popularity of a TV show. They said: “Overnight ratings no longer provide an accurate picture of all those who watch drama in an on-demand world.”
They added: “This season of Doctor Who premiered on iPlayer nearly 24 hours before broadcast, and episode one has already been viewed by nearly six million viewers and continues to grow.”
“Doctor Who remains one of the most watched programmes on iPlayer and is the BBC’s top drama for under-35s this year, making it one of the biggest programmes for the demographic across all streamers and broadcasters,” they continued.
And this was further echoed by showrunner Russell T. Davies. Speaking to the Radio Times, he said: “I’m very proud of [the season thus far]! You know, they might not be the ratings we’d love. “
He added: “We always want higher. But they are building over the 28-day period. Episode 1, Space Babies, is already up to 5.6 million and counting. So it is getting there.”
He went on to add: “I was brought back in to bring in a youthful audience. That’s been massively successful. The audience no one ever gets are the under-30s.”
He then went on to say: “They just don’t watch television anymore. But those figures are astronomic for Doctor Who, it’s their top programme in that bracket.”
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