Yes, it has been impressive that the figures have remained consistently high in a time when the average ratings achieved by shows has been on the decline in the past four years due to the increase in multi channel viewership. Yet Doctor Who has held firm, and may actually wind up with the highest series average yet at the end of this series. I think the only other show that has done this is The Apprentice.

The AI for Midnight is 86.....pretty darned good for an episode that was a touch out of left field!

The current series average for DW is 7.0m.

Highest rating so far is...8.4m
Lowest rating so far is...5.4m

The last 3 eps should rate quite well and push up the average, but i'm not sure if the finale will top 8.4m, the highest rating of the series so far...

Those are only the overnights, I belive. The official average is rather higher than that.....

Now *that* has really surprised me.

I enjoyed it, but I agreed with views expressed that it might alienate folk expecting a more typical Who romp, and that children could find it boring.

I was expecting low eighties, maybe only in the seventies...

And, not a bit of it!

I think RTD's gamble paid off.

Regards,

Cypher

I'm one of the people firmly in the 'absolutely loved it' camp and even I wasn't expecting it to get such a high AI for the reasons you mention. Good stuff.

Yes that is the overnight average.

OK then, the OFFICIAL average so far is 7.7m (this is for the first 8 episodes).

The overnight average of 7.0m is for episodes 1-10. Official figures for eps 9 & 10 will be out on Wednesday and a week on Wednesday respectively.

Final figure for FOTD are in: 7.84 million viewers. 10th for the week (A bit up on last week's 27th!)

wow, another sizeable increase on the overnights there.

To be fair to SITL, it still did pretty well considering what it was up against, I suspect the BBC were more pleased with the figures for SITL than FOTD in a way...

Series 3 vs series 4 final ratings(excluding Christmas specials):

***** series 3 series 4
episode 1 - 8.71 :9.14
episode 2 - 7.23 : 9.04
episode 3 - 8.41* : 7.5
episode 4 - 6.69 :7.06
episode 5 - 6.96 : 6.53
episode 6 - 7.19 :7.33
episode 7 - 7.41 : 8.41
episode 8 - 7.74: 6.27
episode 9 - 7.21 :7.84
Average - 7.51 :7.68

*Gridlock was shown at 7.40pm

Interesting to note that in spite of all the angsting about the issue, series 4 continues to average higher figures than series 3. Only three episodes from series 3 have ratings higher than their counter parts from series 4, and in two of those instances, there are other factors which have played a part in this being the case (Gridlocks substantially later start time, SITL being on against the BGT final).

eta: given that the final rating for episode 10 in series 3 was 6.62, while the overnights for episode 10 of series 4 were 7.3 million (liable to be close to 8 million once finalised), the gap is liable to continue to grow between the two.

Some interesting stats. Also worth pointing out that several episodes of this season have had a start time of 6.20pm. As long as the 2-part finale performs well, this series could average better than all the other series' (1-3).

I think there is a good chance it might be the case, as I can see Rose being back being a big draw, and then the return of Davros for the finale drawing in even more. I would certinally predict higher ratings for the last three episodes of this series than last series (7.84, 7.51 and 8.61 receptively).

7.0 million viewers with a 35.1% share of the total audience.
2nd Most watched programme of the day behind Holland v Russia, and 6th for the week

Thanks Outpost Gallifrey

Super

Great to see!

Bit lower than I expected but I hope the timeshift will push it up to 8.

Decent result again this week...

AI of 88 for 'Turn Left'

The AI's this series have been remarkably strong...

Final ratings of 8.05 million for 'Midnight'

To put that in contxt, the final rating for Blink was (the equivilant episode last year) was 6.62 million, which shows how this series continues to attract higher audiences on average than last series, as follows:


Series 3 vs series 4 final ratings(excluding Christmas specials):

***** series 3 series 4
episode 1 - 8.71 :9.14
episode 2 - 7.23 : 9.04
episode 3 - 8.41 : 7.5
episode 4 - 6.69 :7.06
episode 5 - 6.96 : 6.53
episode 6 - 7.19 :7.33
episode 7 - 7.41 : 8.41
episode 8 - 7.74: 6.27
episode 9 - 7.21 :7.84
episode 10 - 6.62:8.05
Average ---- 7.42: 7.72


So that makes it 7/10 episodes from series 4 having higher final viewing figures than series 3 at this point, and averaging 300,000 viewers more per episode.

Excellent, thanks Muttley. Great to see the great ratings for what has been a fantastic series so far.

Anyone know what the competiton is on the other channels for the final two episodes? Im hoping we might see it hit 10m with the return of everyone

I think 10 million is unlikely. The viewing figures for most programmes have been down across the board in the last couple of weeks (the soaps especially), so Doctor Who has performed amazingly well to maintain such strong viewing figures. My hunch is that while it may well top the final figures of last years finale (8.61 million), 9.2 million is the highest that would be possible (and I'd be happy with anything over 8.5 million).

In terms of what the opposition is, well this week ITV have kind of rolled over - there's a fairly week film on until 7.30pm ('racing stripes') and then You've Been Framed until 8pm.

Not sure for the following week, but I expect it will be much the same.

Yea suppose looking at general ratings itll be amazing to top last years.

Just hope its a really wet weekend

Ahh ITV not playing dirty, good to see!

And 1.068m for the BBC3 Sunday night showing; making it the second-most watched non-terrestrial show of the week.

It is pretty amazing that four series in and the series is getting more popular and not less. Let's hope the break next year doesn't dull the momentum. (One reason I'm hoping for a new Doctor & Companion in 2010 is that it'll let them completely relaunch the series again.)

wow, that's impressive and steady ratings which show that the audience isn't getting bored and the fan base is loyal and locked in. and anyone dares to criticise RTD...

Here's the same comparison but with the adjusted weekly reach figures instead - looks even more impressive. In brackets are the weekly reach figures for series four with iPlayer added in as well (which may or may not be fair bearing in mind series three didn't have iPlayer).

***** series 3 series 4
episode 1 - 10.04 :11.17 (11.68)
episode 2 - 8.72 : 10.53 (10.94)
episode 3 - 9.51 : 9.34 (9.73)
episode 4 - 8.19 :8.55 (9.03)
episode 5 - 8.29 : 8.05 (8.50)
episode 6 - 8.12 :8.74 (9.27)
episode 7 - 8.53 : 9.80 (10.22)
episode 8 - 8.91: 8.11 (8.67)
episode 9 - 8.25 :8.95 (9.36)
episode 10 - 7.69:9.34 (9.75)
Average ---- 8.63: 9.26 (9.71)

Interesting stuff. While it may not be exactly fair to add those figures in, what it does show is how big a reach Doctor Who has these days, and also it highlights that Doctor Who viewers know that if they don't watch it on the night, they can record it, watch the BBc3 repeats, or catch it on iplayer. Obviously some of the views from other sources will be repeat views, but none the less, it is an interesting indicator.