Well believe it or not... Quite a few people think that Doctor Who is s***

Mad I know!

You only have to look at the series averages to see that Doctor Who is doing Ok.

I was worried after last weeks episode, but that nearly got 7.5m and the overnight rating for Cold War went up!

Hasn't that always been the case going way back to the TV days of old of the 60s and 70s?

I'm not too sure to be honest, but i know that dramas on BBC2 back in the day could reach as high as 10m. I think 'I Claudius' did.

Maybe a real tv ratings expert could enlighten us!

Is Doctor Who actually rating more than The Voice after all timeshifts and whatnot are calculated?

No way am I a ratings expert but weren't popular light entertainment shows of the time reaching silly ratings of 20m or even more?

Highest rated TV shows from the 70's.

http://www.fiftiesweb.com/tv-ratings-uk-70s.htm#75

The first episode did.

2. DOCTOR WHO (SAT 1814) 8,441

6. THE VOICE UK (SAT 1901) 7,472

The final ratings for the 2nd episode are out later today i think.

Top ten 'BBC' shows for the week ending 7th April.

1 JONATHAN CREEK (MON 2100) 8.75
2 EASTENDERS (TUE 1929) 8.44
3 EASTENDERS (MON 2000) 8.41
4 EASTENDERS (FRI 2000) 8.11
5 THE VOICE UK (SAT 1859) 7.58
6 DOCTOR WHO (SAT 1815) 7.45
7 EASTENDERS (THU 1928) 7.26
8 THE VILLAGE (SUN 2101) 6.85
9 COUNTRYFILE (SUN 1900) 6.46
10 THE SYNDICATE (TUE 2059) 6.34

Cold War had an Appreciation Index, or AI score, of 84.

Cold War got an AI of 84 - the same as Akhaten last week.

Bells of Saint John - 87
Rings of Akhaten - 84
Cold War - 84

Speaking personally - though I seldom agree with the appreciation index scores, I'd say that they're about indicative of the quality of the three episodes, at least relative to each other.

To be fair... I'm surprised at the AI for Cold War. :/

It was very pretty but it would have been difficult for Mark Gatiss to write a less interesting episode featuring an ice warrior and the cold war.

Tbh the AI really doesnt matter in proportion of everything i mean when the likes of Stolen Earth/Journeys End have 91 the highest the show has ever got! It kinda showcases that it really doesnt matter.

Personally I would say Asylum, Snowmen, Akhaten and Cold War were more worthy of 91 most definitely...IMO Classic episodes this series already....same with last year with the opening two parter, The Doctors Wife, A good Man.../Lets Kill Hitler and the girl Who Waited....you know? Sheer sublime episodes around the mid - lower 80s mark when in actuality i feel they should have even surpassed 90!

So really doesnt matter...the main thing here is that with its 84 it is still in the big leagues and keeping consistent. Will be interesting to see where Hide takes things...

So because YOU don't agree with them they don't matter? That's convienent, isn't it.

Its the same as a star rating really...its more like a "medium" a way of measuring but it doesnt translate overall at all really. Just because its 5 star doesnt mean you enjoy the experience and just because its 2 star doesnt mean it has no redeeming feature and cannot be loved.

Its the same as this...Why should an AI really be taken as a serious measurment at all? In fact what is the AI at all but a bit redundant? Its not a matter of convenience its more what does it actually add?

You may not love The Stolen Earth/Journey's End but it's undeniably one of the most memorable and crowd-pleasing stories of the new series and its cliffhanger is almost universally regarded as one of the most exciting ever. That story was when interest in the new series hit its all-time peak. So it deserves that AI figure IMO.

As much as I also love Asylum of the Daleks and The Doctor's Wife, they are curiosities, not epic and iconic episodes, and therefore they'll just never have the same impact as the big, plot-relevant stories with big, permanent character developments going on.

Blink is, of course, the exception...

For the record, 3 out of 5 Gatiss scripts have recieved AI 84. The only exceptions being the Unquiet Dead which achieved 80, and Night Terrors which scored 85.

Make of that what you will - I think it demonstrates a fascinating consistency...

I can't believe Night Terrors is Gatiss' best received episode... that's my least favourite episode of the new series, I thought it was waaay below standard.

Just out of interest, what have Gatiss' Sherlock episodes received?

The AI figure has always been complete nonsense, especially on Doctor Who. All the episodes get pretty much the same score with only a slight alteration despite the quality! What actually matters is the average final rating of the series in comparison to the previous ones, not one off scores for certain episodes. It's all about trends and if the figures start falling then something is bad, if they stay the same or rise all is good.

Cold War update: 6.777m

D: How does this compare to equivalent point last week? Seems down to me.

EDIT: Rings of Akhaten was at 6.889m at this point last week - so despite the +200,000 on overnights it's already behind Akhaten - so will probably final at sub 7.45m

As I pointed out yesterday, it's worth remembering that this is the current figure for the full slot average (ie 6pm-6.45pm). The episode actually started at about 6.03pm, and it's likely that Cold War will benefit by a good 0.1m or 0.2m when the adjustment for the actual transmission time is made.

It's also worth noting that last week was Half term, so a lot of the timeshifting would have occurred in the first couple of days, where as this week it'll likely be more spread out.

Having said that I'll predict for this episode to come in just below 7.4m

Well that's not too bad. Just a bit surprised that this episode got more in overnights, but seems to be slowing down to under 7.4m

Anyway, another 7m+ episode!