All good points I hadn't considered before. I wonder how that would have panned out differently if Jenna had actually left after Last Christmas?

As far as promotion and advertising were concerned they'd have been able to generate some excitement over the arrival of a new companion.

It also occurs to me that UNIT might have had an enlarged role in the opening episode and a new companion could more believably be fooled by Missy into a) being pushed into a pit and b) getting into a Dalek casing.

But still a lot less than Voyage itself.

Oh OK, so the perceived quality of a programme goes down but this has no effect on a viewer's decision to watch said programme. I disagree.

While I don't disagree with that, perceived quality is one factor in that choice. The largest factor, certainly, but there are other influences on the decision to watch (or not), for those who are casual viewers. People who might basically "like" the programme but aren't fans (if you are already a fan or you already dislike the show your choice won't be swayed). For example: lateness of the showing time, competing programmes on other channels and weak promotion of the programme would also have affected individual viewers' choices and thus, cumulatively, season 9's "measured" audience size.

The effect of perceived quality on audience figures often lags behind percieved quality too. If (casual) viewers didn't like season 8, they'd also be less likely to come back for season 9. A "good" episode's viewing figures can be reduced if it happens to follow a particularly "bad" episode.

And in terms of measuring the choice viewers make, the effect of catch-up services and other methods of viewing content on the size of the audience (and hence "popularity") have yet to be properly assessed.

Finally, quality is subjective and can't be measured. Measuring popularity and looking at "critical acclaim" is a poor substitute, at best. How many great artists were not appreciated within their own lifetime? How much "popularity" is determined simply by the lowest common denominator or by populations simply following the latest fashionable trend? The media sells by first building up and then destroying things in the public sphere. "She looks tired", is indeed just one person's opinion, but it can spark an avalanche of "I agree"'s under the right circumstances.

It's all advertising. Irrespective of quality, advertise well figures will go up. I could go through this season by season of Doctor Who, and countless other shows to show ratings are completely irrelevant to quality of the show.

I think you meant "...irrelevant to the quality of a show"?

I did, thanks for that.

Whilst I don't think the publicity for season 9 was great, I would honestly struggle to agree that was the reason the show lost so many viewers last year.

I think the 'same old' same old' line was incredibly misjudged for the trailers, but it did unfortunately reflect the problem - the show was returning with the same Doctor and the same companion and (in my opinion) the 12th Doctor and Clara simple wasn't a winning combination.

That's nothing to do with quality and simply an issue about what connects with the audience.

That's why I think it is so important the publicity for season 10 goes big-time on the new companion and why I hope - also - the choice of actor is a good one. I am still very concerned about whether Capaldi's Doctor is connecting with the audience but at least a new companion might spark enough interest to bring back some viewers.

I hate to say it, but I honestly do think they need to hire a name - Sheridan Smith for instance.

I like the idea of Sheridan Smith. Would she do it? Would they have her reprise the role of Lucie Miller if she did?

DW has re-purposed existing, 3rd party material from other media before (Human Nature / Family of Blood) and mentioned by name BAF characters.

I think I'm the only person who never really cared much for Lucie Miller/Sheridan Smith. Dark Eye's Molly is much more likable in my opinion. I'd rather an Evelyn Smythe for a TV companion but that's never going to happen. They got enough eyebrows as it was for casting an older Doctor. :P

They could at least bring Frobisher the shapeshifting penguin onboard though. You don't need girls with miniskirts when you have a penguin to attract everybody.

Because shape-shifting companions have been a huge success in the past **coughs**Kamelion**coughs**

I do agree with you about the older companion, and I did love Evelyn (god bless Maggie Stables). But I don't really think of Sheridan Smith as a 'girl in a miniskirt' type of companion. She's not far off the age Catherine Tate was when she took the role of Donna. So I would see her being a bit older and wiser. But as a new companion, not Lucie Miller.

I guess I just think that for season 10, it would help the show if they hired someone with their own public profile and fan base rather than a virtual unknown. Sheridan Smith was just the first name that sprang to mind, to be honest.

"Perceived Quality" not "Quality" as it is a subjective matter. You could go through season by season but you would still be wrong. People will not watch a show if they don't think it is any good. GDK made good points about the other factors in his post but he did not dismiss perceived quality in the way you have done.

According to Peter Capaldi, the new companion has been cast .....

https://twitter.com/GirlyLetters/sta...19871912480768

Assuming this is true, then I guess announcing the casting should be imminent.

I wasn't referring to Sheridan Smith as the "girl in the miniskirt" type but as a joke at companions in general, although looking back on my comment it does look otherwise. My bad. :P

And what's so wrong with "girls in miniskirts" eh!? You say that like it's a bad thing!

To be honest, if Sheridan Smith was in Doctor Who I could imagine her being a companion from the swinging sixties and wearing a miniskirt. But that's probably just because of all the Cilla stuff.

I imagine her more as the type to go around time and space wearing a hoodie and pyjama bottoms, be damned what everyone thinks.


Nothing in particular, but let's be honest: Jamie pulled off the skirt look better.

More like he's now allowed to reveal that the companion has been cast.

Was anyone really believing the companion hadn't been cast recently with all that 'no auditions yet' stuff?. I mean come on, when have they ever left it as late as 2 months before the start of filming to cast a companion?

Taking an educated guess on how far ahead doctor's an new companions are usually cast, i'd say that Moffat, Capaldi and the companion themselves would almost certainly knew of the casting before Christmas.

Actually that's not a bad idea. Why should we have another modern day companion?
Or, with the popularity of shows like Downton Abbey, how about someone from the 1920s?

The problem with going too far back in time for a companion is having to explain modern technology to them, which can get in the way of the story.

Well, that could be an issue, but it worked pretty well with Jamie and Victoria, and added a certain charm to the stories and to their characters. Somebody feisty from the 1920s could work very well I think, and if we had someone from the 1960s or even 1970s, then we're really not that far off modern day, but just far enough to give the character some interesting quirks.
It'd make a nice change, that's for sure.

probably no more so than the doctor having to explain the function of a technical device he has just built out of spare bits, or the culture of a planet, or the million things he's constantly explaining about the situation to the companion, whether they come from past or present.

Viewing figures are rarely a reflection of the quality of an episode or season.

Leaving aside the debate about quality vs popularity, viewing figures are if anything a reflection of the quality/popularity of the previous episode/season, the popularity of the cast/guest stars, the scheduling, the promotion etc. When I sit down to watch something I don't know if it's any good until I've watched it, when it's too late

A rubbish episode might mean that people don't watch the much better story the following week, and vice versa.

A great episode might be up against popular programmes on the other channels, or poorly promoted. "Silence in the Library" for example has the lowest ratings of S4, when most people would consider it one of the best episodes of the revived show.

S9 DID have scheduling issues, it started against key matches of the Rugby World Cup and was CONSISTENTLY on an hour later than Doctor Who has traditionally been on. Add to that, a 2 part Davros story is great for many fans but perhaps not so attractive for casual watchers?

Good points, which is what I have been trying to say! Would take issue with your comments on Silence and Davros though (from a fan's point of view).

But if it was perceived quality, then the show wouldn't be growing in popularity worldwide. Some may have stopped watching because they don't like it, that happens in every show though, including GOT, Breaking Bad. But what they did well is advertise, so for every person who didn't like it, more would start watching it.

But as i also mentioned, everyone streams shows these days, i know Doctor Who is the only show i watch with my TV, simply to give it some figures. So unless you have some sort of ability to judge how many people watched it online, or after the release of the episode, or how many people internationally watch it (which has increased i might add) you can't judge it.

And i'll stick to modern who, most viewed episodes are The specials. Why? It is because of advertising. They are building up to an episode for 1 month +, it creates hype, everyone knows when it is so if the viewers were lost as you say, then why are they coming back for the christmas specials?