Why are people critiquing Dr Who here....? Are the ratings good, average...impressive, disappointing?? This is a ratings thread, personal opinion of leading actors is pretty pointless. I don't watch it...so I am in no position to praise or criticise it....but if it winning its slot and rating 6m+.....then thumbs up!!!

I'm surprised people are still making excuses for it tbh. First it was the weather, then it was the Bank Holiday and now it's the Paralympics. They'll be blaming Dads Army next weekThe share has been down significantly over all 3 episodes, which says to me that people are tired/bored of it.

I think as well it seems to have the sort of obsessive fans who treat any criticism of it as a personal insult. I know we have Trekkies, but it seems now we have the same obsessive fans for reality shows.

some of us feel that it should have gotten better ratings, than it did, based on the episode we watched.

For two of the big Saturday night hits of the century so far those are two rather weak ratings. X Factor seems to be stuck when it should be starting to build. Last nights show was a lot better than last week but at this point I'm not sure it'll make much difference.

It doesn't bode well that people are already looking towards what could be changed next year - there's a whole series to get out of the way first. Last year it was just the last few weeks of the live shows that had that "lets get out of here before it falls further" feel. But because they didn't act on that, now they've got a whole series which could go that way.

I think there's a chance the live shows will provide some relief. More people watching TV, the shows are longer and pick up viewers and I think they've always been more "accessible" casual viewing than the auditions. But even if it does grow a bit, it's still going to trail far behind the past 3 years. Definitely looks like Strictly's best chance to reclaim the crown for the first year since 2007. Coming off a good series with a good cast and part of a stronger schedule not to mention that Danny Cohen will be keen to get revenge for The Voice and schedule Strictly to run beyond 8pm. The chance to see Olympians learn ballroom dance will probably rate better than some of their medal wins!

DW did as I expected actually, and I was a little surprised that people yesterday were suggesting it could even topple The X Factor (which may be down but is still hovering comfortably above 8m). After its overnights last series I didn't get the sense it was suddenly going to jump significantly this series.

TXF does seem to be a real cause for concern now. I was expecting it to exceed 9m at least last night so for it to actually be down on last week is quite worrying. There's no buzz surrounding this series, no momentum, and even I - a self-confessed diehard X Factor fan - was close to switching off last night. Not because it was particularly BAD, but there is a sense of having seen it all before now. And that's perhaps not a surprise after nine series, but I felt they could have done more after last year's declines, and they just didn't.

Indeed both X-Factor/BB. This plays though to the impact on society that the grey tops are writing about. The X-Factor phenomenon being pervasive on society - it is almost cult-like for some. It is deemed to be that elusive escape route from their own lives. X-Factor got so big & it was everywhere you looked. I watched for the first few series but then didn't like what is became but you couldn't avoid knowing exactly what was happening with flippin show as it invaded all facets of media for 3/4 months of year.

And then ITV will clash BGT with The Voice next year!


Indeed, the majority of people here have wanted ITV and The X Factor to fail for years and were predicting it's decline even when it was still on the up.

Why I'm not sure, If Strictly ever finishes, which it surely must do at some point, (how many years did Noel's House Party or Blind Date last for?) we'll be back to those exciting Saturdays where Casualty tops the ratings with 4.5m

It was up against live Paralympics, (ROB and BBC3 Proms)....I went for 5.7m on the RPG so I was surprised to see 6.4m...Dr Who is a programme that timeshifts well, a percentage of viewers do not see it as appointment tv, preferring to watch it at their leisure...I can see it nudging 8m in the officials....

Well, it was just a little aside regarding Smith not being able to command the overnights Tennant could, although I believe Steven Moffat when he says the audience with everything counted is as high as ever.

I'm sure on 23rd November 2013, it'll have 9 million overnight again. Silence must fall when the question is asked!

That strategy didn't turn out so well for ITV in the early rounds this year. Only when the spinning chairs were made motionless did The Voice lose its footing. Apparently they'll be spinning all series next year, although how that will work I'm not sure.

What would be considered a good rating for the new Daybreak from tomorrow? 800,000 + ?

Grown up geeks then?

X Factor IS unhealthy, its lost a significant part of its audience (in all figures)

Would have thought Who could be a bit higher but we'll have to see the finals. No boost for it or XFactor though. I would hope/expect the drop next week to be less than we've seen in the past tho.

Oh and Strictly should be a bit later as we know it rates better during a clash than on in the early 6's. But nothing significant, x factors ratings mesn it can just be ignored, why give it any attention?

Plus Merlin does great against it and could even out rate DW. Why move it when Strictly does fine where it is.

X Factor must be worrying for ITV tho. Least we can drop the 'wait for XFactor' rubbish - its not a magic wand.

Twitter - Tony Gardner (actor who's in BBC1's new drama with Dean Andrews from Ashes To Ashes...)

"Phew, looks like we've swerved Downton. Last Tango In Halifax begins on BBC1, Tuesday 18th September".

I believe (but don't hold me to it) that the spinny chairs allow a coach to buzz and 'steal' an elimainated battle round person.
The BBC could try clashing Strictly, in fact they probably will for the live show proper, and if the X Factor hasn't bounced back by then ITV are in real trouble. They need a new entertainment format and pronto, even if X Factor recovers, there's not the interest there once was and it won't last forever, same with BGT, things like Superstar won't cut it (another ageing format given a lick of paint) They need a brand new, all singing all dancing light entertainment show to launch to replace the two big hitters-Last time i remember a transition was the stars in their eyes and Pop Idol followed by millionaire- Big saturday shows are a UKTV staple and they need to do this again for X Factor by launching something on the back of it that is a viable replacement. (In fairness the BBC have tried the Voice but they need to look at something to replace Strictly in the long run, DWTS is on the down and I'm sure the UK version will follow at some point although I do think the buzz surrounding this series will make it ists best yet)

That's a good summation. We don't stick to channels anymore just programmes. Also Doctor Who's weird scheduling has changed the viewing mindset of those that watch.They just say they can catch it later rather than running home to watch it and the success of the iPlayer has added to that. My theory is that as iPlayer works so well people are more likely to watch there than record to watch later. And iPlayer figures don't show up on BARB so that's why it ends up lower on some occasions.

It got so out of hand someone was issued with death threats on Facebook for praising one contestant over another and then a helpline was set up by the Daily Star for people who were so upset about Channel 4 cancelling BB. I think, though, people are wising up and realising TXF, once a good show, has become formulaic and dull.
However, in its defence, it has been a solid anchor for ITV for eight years, it makes millions for the broadcaster to spend on programmes like The Lakes and has delivered the sort of ratings last seen in the glory days of Blind Date.

It would be interesting to see total viewing over the week with the ITV1/HD and ITV2 repeats.

The first edition alone had over 1m on its ITV2 showing on the Sunday and I expect the ITV1 showing earlier the same afternoon would have probably beaten that.

Based on past timeshifts, last night's Dr Who is expected to rate about 8m in the officials, which must be pretty close to its average audience for the 21st Century editions.

Dr Who does not have a ratings problem.


I saw the trailer for Hunted again last night. I thought that might mean it was getting Accused's Tuesday night slot, but seems not.

Hunted - a thriller from the makers of Spooks. I'm kinda of thinking it's destined for the Downton slot for the same reason (reputedly) that Spooks had for getting that slot - deemed to be a complimentary alternative to the period drama of Downton.

I cant wait for Hunted, it looks amazing.

With three 'event tv' competition last night (Paralympics, popular Prom and Andy Murray) it may well do better than usual.

Considering Doctor who gets a huge amount of hype from the BBC. (more hype than any other show) the overnights arent that great. The PR for the series must cost a fortune.

I think BBC drama has got it right after a bad period in the nineties. You have continuing hits like EE, HC and Casualty and massive drama hits like New Tricks and CTM. Also you have the hard hitting series like The Accused. It's a far cry from such drivel as A Year in Provence and Strathblair.

Those that are comparing X-factors rating fall to DR Who rating fall, there is just no point in doing this, they are two very different genres, on two very different channels.

BBC 1 doesnt have to worry about live viewers in the way ITV does. As long as a high audience overal see it (inc. catch up, online or repeats) then the BBC will be happy. ITV on the other hand needs mass audiences that night, one of the reasons that ITV has a +1 channel. A viewer on the night is worth alot more to them than a viewer in a couple of days time online to ITV and advertisers.

Shows like X-factor are water cooler tv, they get big ratings in their main broadcast, which ITV need, as people dont want to be left out of the conversation the next day at work, when everyone is talking about it. This is why they are so important to ITV.

Dramas are no longer water cooler tv, people dont mind catching up with them later in the week. This is why you generally see dramas getting a bigger up shift in viewers when catch up is included. For a channel like BBC 1, as long as a large number of people eventually watch it, they dont care.

So though many see it as a bad sign that Doctor Who is no longer appointment tv,, as long as the ratings are high including all the various other way to watch it, they will be happy, over nights mean very little to them. However, for ITV it is alot more important, as same day viewers are more important to advertisers. In this sense as long as Dr Who makes up viewers by the finals, this is a much worse situation for ITV.

Mentioning appointment tv, this is the first year at work where there hasnt been a single conversation about the X-factor at work. Going forward if this is true everwhere, that will be a big concern for ITV.