Doctor Who - Comparing Numbers

Hi there!

I haven’t done a Doctor Who post in a while.

It’s been a couple of weeks since the New year’s special aired and the numbers have not been good. Both the BBC and BBC America reported lower ratings for Doctor Who on January 1, 2019 compared to the last Christmas special that aired December 25, 2017.

So what’s up with that?

I think it’s a matter of comparing apples and oranges.

“Twice Upon a Time” had a number of hooks to hang its hat on.

A team up of the Doctor with a prior self with the 12^th Doctor in action with the 1^st Doctor. Fans love multi-Doctor episodes. We don’t get them a lot (which is probably for the best) so we really embrace them when we do. 

The swan song for Steven Moffat as head writer and showrunner. Yes, he had his detractors but I think more fans liked him than those who did not. At any rate, Moffat’s departure marked the end of an era that began not when Moffat first took over as head writer and showrunner but when Russell T Davies relaunched the show in 2005.  

The final adventure for Peter Capaldi as the Doctor. The Doctor having one last finale before regeneration always generates a lot of interest.

The first appearance of Jodie Whittaker as the Doctor. Getting a glimpse of the new Doctor after regeneration also draws a lot of attention.

All “Resolution” had going for it was the return of the Daleks. Sort of. And Ryan reconciles with his dad. Sort of.

Now it may sound like I may be making light of the episode.  Actually, I think it’s a shame that  “Resolution” did not get a bigger audience. As I said in my review of the episode back on January 2^nd and I still stand by this assessment, “Resolution” is the best episode of Jodie Whittaker’s time as the Doctor so far. OK, we didn’t get an army of pepper pots with blasting death rays with their static fused war cry of “Exterminate!”. We did get a unique twist on the Daleks which is a tough trick to do for antagonists that have been around for 55 years. And Ryan and his dad doesn’t lend itself to be big epic drama but it was nice to see a pin get stuck in that dangling part of Ryan’s psyche.   

It should be noted that the overall numbers for Series 11 still tracked higher than the overall numbers for Series 10. Lower numbers for New Year’s Day does not take away the strength of the ratings for Jodie’s first season.

There are critics, however, that have cast the low ratings for the New Year’s special as indicative of a downward spiral in interest in Chris Chibnall’s view of the Doctor Who universe. Is there any truth to that?

Maybe. A little.  I’ll pick that up in a later post.