Not enough Xmas/Too much Xmas
They need to put DW on earlier/DW is on too early
S9 is too dark/The Xmas special sounds too silly

It really is getting beyond parody now

2005 7.00pm Christmas Day The Christmas Invasion Tenth Doctor, David Tennant

2006 7.00pm Christmas Day The Runaway Bride Tenth Doctor, David Tennant

2007 6.50pm Christmas Day Voyage of the Damned Tenth Doctor, David Tennant

2008 6.00pm Christmas Day The Next Doctor Tenth Doctor, David Tennant

2009 6.00pm Christmas Day The End of Time 1/2 Tenth Doctor, David Tennant

2010 6.00pm Christmas Day A Christmas Carol Eleventh Doctor, Matt Smith

2011 7.00pm Christmas Day The Doctor, The Widow & The Wardrobe Eleventh Doctor, Matt Smith

2012 5.15pm Christmas Day The Snowmen Eleventh Doctor, Matt Smith

2013 7.30pm Christmas Day The Time of the Doctor Eleventh Doctor, Matt Smith and

2014 6.15pm Christmas Day Last Christmas Twelfth Doctor, Peter Capaldi

2015 5.15pm Christmas Day The Husbands of River Song Twelfth Doctor. Peter Capaldi

So along with The Snowmen its the earliest Xmas start

Doesn't really matter, there's always the iplayer.

Purely for the sake of completeness, let's not forget:

1965 6:35pm Christmas Day The Feast of Steven First Doctor, William Hartnell

(some 45 minutes later than the rest of The Daleks' Master Plan, and about the middle of the range of times for more recent Christmas specials). Since it's the fiftieth anniversary of the first Doctor Who Christmas special, I wonder whether THoRS will include any "nods to the past".

Right.

I just do not understand why some people make such a fuss about broadcast times. "It's on too early / too late, the wrong time of the year"

As long as they produce and broadcast it what does it really matter?



And in fact the Snowmen got a fantastic AI rating.

Agreed. 7.15pm would've been perfect. At least we can get it over with quickly.

Indeed, and in fact, Moffat has now confirmed exactly at what point it will be from her point of view.

Which is:-


link:
http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2015-...ver-songs-life

Well I was pleasantly surprised to see Doctor Who taking centre stage in the BBC's Christmas idents (that they've started running already - I must be getting old!)

You are aware that you dont have to watch it? Its not a duty. No one will mind if you want to give it a miss. What a bizarre state of affairs when we have people not only already saying the episode is going to be rubbish and then complaining its on to early but the icing on the cake? Deciding its for the best so they can get the chore of watching it out the way. Its a TV show not a dentist appointment,

Just a quite frankly baffling attitude to have. How did it ever get to this?!?!

Its like a thank you gesture to the show before they cancel it next year because 5 people on the Digital Spy forum don't like it anymore.

And of course the loss of 1 million viewers for series 9

Well no because if the major terrestrial channels were to cancel every drama and entertainment series that has dropped a million viewers here or there then the only thing to watch would be people baking in tents and z-list celebrities trying to waltz.

Broadchurch...the TV bandwagon of the last couple of years- managed to lose between 800,000 - 1.3 million viewers despite being in only its second season, winning lots of those precious TV awards and having the kind of hype most shows can only dream of in a cosy midweek prime time position with practically zero competition. And yet series 3 is on its way...

In what way?

I expect that even though on demand isnt counted officially by BARB, the broadcasters keep an eye on their own on demand player to see how many requests they get and very likely take that into account when commissioning new series.

It couldn't be a better time for me - 5:15pm. At least I've got time to eat my sandwiches later and put on Jurassic World on Blu Ray.

I'd watch it anytime it's on BBC 1. I'm a real fan.

That's going to annoy some people I know...

I'm surprised anyone is bothered about broadcast times in this day and age. I'd understand if you had to wait for a repeat to watch it at a more convenient time, but really. Just record it and watch it at 7.15 if you're that bothered.

I usually wait till boxing day to watch it anyway. Perfect hangover fodder. If I see River on the actual day I'll probably just throw stuff at the telly in a drunken rage anyway

Oh dear, my grandchildren will want to watch that. Perhaps I can persuade them to spend Christmas Day at their other granny's this year.

Or failing that, lock them in the cellar for an hour.

(Sorry about lack of Christmas spirit - I can't help it. ).


I agree with all this. I'm really looking forward to the Christmas special this year. I expect Alex and Peter to deliver a fantastic episode. But River's a favourite of mine.

Btw - I took the remarks about the broadcasting time as a sarky joke. Are people really seriously moaning that 5.15 is too early?

I think I would be a bit miffed if it was moved to Boxing Day or tucked away at 2pm in the afternoon. By 5.15pm, for me, is the 'gateway' to Christmas Night telly!

I assume when Doctor Who was on at 6:15 last year it was on after Strictly but this year it's on before. I guess the schedulers heard the fans and production teams pleas to broadcast Doctor Who before Strictly but misunderstood which day they meant

Some people will just moan. About anything!

I's usually repeated anyway fairly soon.

I usually watch on Christmas Day with a background of non fans saying "Who's that? What did he mean by that? Why did he do that?" etc, and then again later when I can actually pay attention.

God, I f*cking hate that smug irritant River Song. Apart from lesbian lizard woman and her gang of bores (more Moffat creations he's convinced the public just adore), she's the worst recurring character in Doctor Who history. These days I only swich on the telly on Christmas Day for Doctor Who. Much as I dislike missing a Doctor Who episode, the telly will remain switched off all day this year.

Surely as someone else said- 5.15 is a great time. Many people will be settling down for the post dinner TV session at about this time and the family will still all be up. I think some people are really starting to over think the variables involved in getting a certain amount of viewers. I understand during the rest of the year arguments can rightly be made about what season its on in and if its up against major sporting events or just slightly too late for many younger viewers- thats all relevant. But at Xmas? Not so much. If you really think a different start time is gonna be the difference between ten million viewers and five then youre deluding yourself.

Truth is I expect lowest overnights ever this year. Not only for DW but everything. I reckon it will be an all time low for terrestrial viewing figures across all the major channels at Xmas with perhaps only Strictly Come Prancing bucking that trend. The key is how DW holds up against the rest. And the catch up obviously.

You seem to be doing exactly what you accuse Moffat of doing only in reverse i.e. convincing yourself everyone else hates them just like you do. I am ambivalent to River Song but as far as I can tell she is well loved by fans as are the Paternoster Gang. Shame you dont like them but I think you'll find many do, probably more than not.

You can play a board game.

I just meant fans are so polarised when it comes to everything Doctor Who related that its almost a bad joke. All season people have been saying its on too late and then now its on too early. Its like bloody Goldilocks!

And in the space of a few minutes I saw one person complaining that S9 had been too dark and drab and then another person outraged that Matt Lucas is going to make the Xmas special silly and comedic. What exactly do people want?!?!? Its why you would go insane trying to ever second guess the fans when running the show. That way madness lies.