Do people think the next series will suffer a hit due to the long gap between series 9 to 10......

Will (some) casual watchers have lost interest in DW, and may it take time to build interest back up again.... via strong episodes and good word of mouth.....

Perhaps people have become more invested in other shows/or things that are more regular, that they get more of and so have lost eagerness to see the next series of DW... other things have replaced DW for their entertainment fill...

Or do you think the gap might be a good thing, and will make people eager for the next series as DW hasn't been on for a while.... and all it needs is a good trailer and some promotion and its back as normal....

I think it largely depends on how the BBC advertise it. Series 9's advertisement felt almost non-existant coming up to the series and a lot of people I knew hadn't even realised it had started, and not from lack of interest. Not to mention, whatever your stance on Capaldi's tenure, the whole "same old" tagline is an incredibly poor way to promote interest in the series and kind of misses the whole point of advertising.

Yes the "same old" line in the series 9 trailer was hugely misjudged... They will most likely have a bigger push for series 10, what with the long gap it will have a its back effect going on, and with a new companion... those two element should cause tv/paper discussion and so forth that will help promote the new series... and hopefully they do a much better job on the trailer to get people excited...

Yes, it will echo Top Gear.


Even twelve weeks after it started? Don't fool yourself. People know when something starts if they actually care about it (Doctor Who in 2006 or GoT in 2016, etc). It's not like it's a completely random thing what time of year Doctor Who starts...

I'm not sure I agree there was less publicity for last year's season, and I don't think the "same old same old" comment can be solely blamed for turning people off, although it was misjudged.

I think the drop in viewing figures for season 9 was largely the audience's reaction to season 8: Capaldi and Coleman - an unlikeable Doctor and an irritating companion. Not a great combination. And yet both brought back for season 9. Bonkers!

I'm just not convinced the excitement is going to build during this 'gap' year for season 10 while Capaldi is still in the lead role, although Clara going can only be a bonus.

I guess we'll see. But overall I don't think the gap year will make a difference either way. I think people will either be pleased the show is back or won't care. And I have to agree with Isambard Brunel - if people didn't notice the show returned last year, I think its more of an issue that they didn't care it was back.

The Doctor being unlikable is debatable.... that's your opinion that he is, but there's no facts to back up and prove he was the reason.... I don't think he is the reason for any declined interest, but then I don't have any facts to back that up either.... its just opinion.....

I think if anything is responsible for less interest in the show is down to the writing on DW..... Frankly I wouldn't blame anyone seeing the ludicrous rubbish that was the Moon Egg episode and the Magic trees of no consequence episode and being turned off from watching DW anymore..... The finale and other parts of series 8 were dodgy as-well.... but then there was also some great stuff...

Then series 9 starts with a inconsistent Doctor from what we've seen last year and it going back on what we saw in S8, the end of series 8 showed the doctor excepting himself as just being a idiot passing through, and then series 9 is back to all the internal angst about himself again.. and more rubbish about yet another prophesised Death.... again I wouldn't blame people for giving up.... The writing (Moffat mostly) has become repetitive and inconsistent.....

Its hard to be invested in something that has no consequence, when death becomes so cheap, when characters are not consistent, when there are over-hyped stakes that lead to nothing, when plot lines/stories don't make sense.... All of these things have plagued DW for the last 5 years.... and it will have an affect... it will hinder peoples enjoyment and slowly take them out of the show and eventually they will lose interest

Capaldi when given great material to work with like the Orient express/2D creatures/Listen episodes and other moments he's fantastic.... The problem is with the rubbish he's so often given to work with, sleep eye monsters I mean come on.... and series 9 storylines that were a snooze fest...

The writing is the key..... and its the writing that's the problem with the show IMO....

I agree with pretty much everything you've said. The comment I made about the 12th Doctor being unlikeable - it is a personal view, you're right, although both Moffat and Capaldi have spoken about their intention to make him (at the very least) less likeable.

And I think the fact Capaldi is the only Doctor not to be shortlisted for the NTA award (two years running) is a bad sign about how the audience has reacted to him. Between them Eccleston, Tennant and Smith saw the actor playing the Doctor nominated every year at the NTAs - and pretty much always won.

But I certainly agree with the tiresome way he was written in season 9 too - from the fake whackiness to the doom and gloom.

I must say, it is actually quite refreshing seeing other forum members raising issue with the writing. I do sometimes feel like something of a loan dissenter on here.

I never said after twelve weeks though...? Read first.

Yeah and it wasn't just the Doctor who was poorly handled in series 9, Clara was handled equally poorly if not worse....

The best we saw of Jenna was when they gave her an evil twin in the Zygon episodes... those episode were the only time Jenna had anything fun to play with... and she was good in those episodes.... and that's the thing when Capaldi and Jenna were given good stuff they were great, but most of the time they were given stuff that didn't spark....

For me Heaven Sent was the only thing memorable about series 9.... (its been under a year since the series aired and it really is a forgettable series)... Capaldi was fantastic in it and the series was doing something interesting...

Maybe it needs another rest...

I think the point Isambard Brunel is making is that poor advertising would only account for a fall in viewers for the first week, maybe two. But if a million+ viewers fail to return for the whole season (12 weeks) that's a choice they've made not to watch.

I do appreciate the original point you were making was about awareness rather than viewing figures.

It will be fun to get those old fun liive action pormo things like the one with The Doctor and Amy in 2010 and the one they did for the RTD Era.

Its all advertising, the majority of the views are casual viewers, the fans of the show will watch regardless.

So advertise well, more people see it, and higher interest is built.

My obvious point was that the ratings didn't really recover over twelve weeks. The whole series was generally down. Think first.

I'm sick to death of the writing too. It's either moon eggs, fireproof trees or weirdness like Sleep no More (the first episode of the show I ever gave up watching before the end). And then there's what feels like *everyone* dying only to come back to life - one of the most cringing clichés of sci-fi, done more in Dr Who than any other show.

And every series we're told the Doctor is going to die - properly die! This time he really is. It's the end. He's dead and there's nothing that can be done to save him. There are only twelve regular episodes per year, which pass quickly once you've waited for them. It's become something to groan at when a new series starts and you get the same old rubbish that he's going to die again.


The Doctor and Amy were in a pormo film?!! Presumably this an extended version of that scene where Amy pushes the Doctor against the Tardis and kisses him, using one of the takes where Amy grabbed his crotch?

Not quite the question by the OP, but the gap has certainly meant I rarely log in to the forum anymore!

Very strange then that you addressed my comment and tried to correct me over something I wasn't talking about. That makes sense.

It is very quiet here at the moment. I logged on yesterday evening and there hadn't been any updates since the afternoon. its like a ghost town at the moment.

Sounds like we need a forum game thread reboot ......

LMAO!! Whoops meant *Promo

I didn't really like much of the last series, and that's the reason I slightly lost interest.

But I'm missing Doctor Who now, and I want it back.

To cure yourself, watch one episode a day all the way back from episode 1 of the classics, and by the time you are done, the new season will have started.

By the time that you are done, Series 10, 11 and 12 will have been released on Blu-Ray.

..... and series 11 will be filming in 4K UHD to boot

By the time you've done that, the universe will have finished another cycle back to this point in time and you'll be in the same predicament anyway.

The gap might not necessarily affect viewing, but the fact that after the big gap we'll still have Moffatt might. I just hope the series will focus on good stories etc rather than all that timey-wimey crap.