Plus, with any DW viewers also being XF viewers, when faced with a clash, what do you Watch live? The program live that has another episode the next day, or the program that has the next episode the next week (giving you plenty of time to catch up on timeshift)?

Seems a pretty simple choice to me.

Yep.

About 5m is what I was expecting. Admit was hoping for a bit of a boost from SCD but there we go. This is solid stuff.

I did expect a little boost from SCD, but starting at 8.30pm for a family show cancelled out a big boost imho. The ratings as they always do for every show will go up once the weather turns colder.

Saying that the final rating should still be around the 7m mark!

[edit] Just seen the ratings for X-Factor and SCD... Looks like they are both underperforming. X-Factor under 8m, SCD just over 8m. Everyone took chunks out of each other there....

Doctor Who ahead of SCD on iPlayer. Speaking of which, we should be getting our first iPlayer numbers any day now...

Why have they put Doctor Who up against XFactor?
I hope this isn't an evil conspiracy to kill the show.........

Of course it is. It's a hugely successful show around the world, why wouldn't the BBC want to kill it.

If the slot's so bad, do you think they should air it at 17:35 next week? That's the alternative.

6.99m for Time Heist - 7,400 off 7 million! >_<

Well it was a fun record chase while it lasted.

(adopts football commentator voice) Oooh, that was close!

Very respectable. As CD93 said up thread, the i player stats are on their way and should make interesting reading. Generally these days, it's only Doctor Who that I tend to always catch 'live' so they'll give a good indication of the overall 'reach' of Who as sure it's a general trend.

I've generally been a staunch supporter of the ratings Who has achieved over the past couple of years - but I will admit last night is disappointing. Based on historical precedence, I was expecting a rise of maybe up to 1m - but it hasn't happened and the comparisons to how Merlin performed in the slot a few years ago aren't particularly friendly, given Who's flagship status.

The show's in absolutely no danger or anything like that - hell, UK figures could drop to zero and international sales would still keep it going - but it does seem to have faded somewhat. It'll need to see some rises over the next few weeks if it is going to ward off being the lowest rated of the 8 series. Not what I would have expected from a full run of 13 episodes in Autumn - but perhaps not unsurprising when you consider that we have a new Doctor who is very different to his immediate predecessors.

Oh so close!!!

A nice graph from Neil C

http://i.imgur.com/5bXaaTw.png

Just a random thought:

The AI for the show is usually quite a bit higher than the Excellent + Good ratings on this forum.

The general audience, perhaps, enjoy the show a lot more than many 'net dwellers.

Not a surprise, but always worth bearing in mind .

Good graph, there.

Leaving aside the opener, seems pretty stable.

The big test vis a vis the X Factor will be in a couple of weeks when the live shows start

Merlin was pretty famous for having an older-skewing audience than X Factor, so it was a very good piece of alternative scheduling by BBC One. Give the other demographics something decent to watch and you can sweep up a lot of the remaining audience. Doctor Who is different to Merlin in that its audience is much more evenly spread amongst the age groups, so there's more of a crossover with X Factor at the younger end.

As far as the overall figures are concerned, and given how audiences across the board are still falling, Doctor Who's comparing very favourably to Merlin's final two seasons.

Merlin (Season 4)
01/10/11 (1955-2040) - 6.40m - The Darkest Hour
08/10/11 (2005-2050) - 6.80m - The Darkest Hour: Part Two
15/10/11 (2015-2100) - 7.04m - The Wicked Day
22/10/11 (2015-2100) - 6.96m - Aithusa
29/10/11 (2010-2055) - 7.40m - His Father's Son
05/11/11 (1955-2040) - 6.94m - A Servant of Two Masters
12/11/11 (2020-2105) - 6.72m - The Secret Sharer
19/11/11 (2015-2100) - 7.00m - Lamia
26/11/11 (2015-2100) - 7.32m - Lancelot du Lac
03/12/11 (2000-2045) - 6.90m - A Herald of the New Age
10/12/11 (2015-2100) - 7.12m - The Hunter's Heart
17/12/11 (2005-2050) - 8.39m - The Sword in the Stone: Part One
24/12/11 (2000-2045) - 8.18m - The Sword in the Stone: Part Two

Merlin (Season 5)
06/10/12 (1945-2030) - 7.12m - Arthur's Bane: Part One
13/10/12 (2025-2110) - 6.99m - Arthur's Bane: Part Two
20/10/12 (2025-2110) - 6.86m - The Death Song of Uther Pendragon
27/10/12 (2020-2105) - 6.86m - Another's Sorrow
03/11/12 (2015-2100) - 6.88m - The Disir
10/11/12 (2005-2050) - 6.85m - The Dark Tower
17/11/12 (2000-2045) - 6.86m - A Lesson in Vengeance
24/11/12 (2000-2045) - 6.86m - The Hollow Queen
01/12/12 (2000-2045) - 6.76m - With All My Heart
08/12/12 (1955-2040) - 7.00m - The Kindness of Strangers
15/12/12 (2015-2100) - 7.34m - The Drawing of the Dark
22/12/12 (1955-2040) - 8.45m - The Diamond of the Day: Part One
24/12/12 (2015-2100) - 7.80m - The Diamond of the Day: Part Two

And for a bit of contrast, when Merlin is replaced with a poorly realised and mis-cast series:

Atlantis (Season 1)
28/09/13 (2025-2115) - 7.36m - The Earth Bull
05/10/13 (2025-2110) - 6.37m - A Girl By Any Other Name
12/10/13 (2030-2115) - 6.24m - A Boy of No Consequence
19/10/13 (2020-2105) - 6.08m - Twist of Fate
26/10/13 (2015-2100) - 5.61m - White Lies
02/11/13 (2015-2105) - 5.89m - The Song of the Sirens
09/11/13 (2000-2050) - 5.52m - The Rules of Engagement
16/11/13 (2000-2050) - 5.43m - The Furies
30/11/13 (2015-2100) - 5.26m - Pandora's Box
07/12/13 (2015-2100) - 5.27m - The Price of Hope
14/12/13 (2020-2105) - 5.34m - Hunger Pangs
21/12/13 (1955-2040) - 6.36m - Touched By the Gods: Part One
28/12/13 (2015-2100) - ?.??m* - Touched By the Gods: Part Two

* Failed to get into BBC One's top thirty for the week

I think I'm right in saying that the penultimate episode for each of those seasons went out the week after X Factor finished, so BBC One had less competition

The story so far...

SERIES 8

1. Deep Breath. Overnight rating: 6.8m (32.5%) Final rating: 9.17m (37.9%) AI: 82 [TS 2.37m]

2. Into The Dalek. Overnight rating: 5.2 million (24.7%) Final rating: 7.29m AI: 84 [TS 2.09m]

3. Robot of Sherwood. Overnight rating: 5.2 million (25.4%) Final rating: 7.28m. AI: 82 [TS 2.08m]

4. Listen. Overnight rating: 4.81 million (23.5%) Final rating: 7.01m AI: 82 [TS 2.20m]

5. Time Heist. Overnight rating: 4.93 million (23.8%) Final rating: 6.99m AI: 84 [TS 2.06]

6. The Caretaker. Overnight rating: 4.89 million. Final Rating: TBA : AI: TBA [Predicted final rating using the TimeShift average... 7.15m]

Series average [After 5 episodes ] : 7.54m [Time Shift Average: 2.26m]

Doctor Who overnight series averages

Quote:
7.3m- Series 1: Overnight average (13 episodes)
7.2m- Series 2: Overnight average (13 episodes)
7.0m- Series 3: Overnight average (13 episodes)
7.2m- Series 4: Overnight average (13 episodes)
6.0m- Series 5: Overnight average (13 episodes)
5.7m- Series 6: Overnight average (13 episodes)
5.5m - Series 7: Overnight average (13 episodes)
Doctor Who final series averages

Quote:
7.94m- Series 1: Final BARB rating average (13 episodes)
7.71m- Series 2: Final BARB rating average (13 episodes)
7.55m- Series 3: Final BARB rating average (13 episodes)
8.05m- Series 4: Final BARB rating average (13 episodes)
7.73m- Series 5: Final BARB rating average (13 episodes)
7.52m- Series 6: Final BARB rating average (13 episodes)
7.44m- Series 7: Final BARB rating average (13 episodes)

[Thanks to Gallifrey Base for the series ratings information ]

Final rating for Time Heist of 6.99 is painfully close to the 7 million mark.
That said, it's still higher than half of Series 7 Part 2 last year so Doctor Who is still going strong even if much of its audience is time-shifted.

Looks like the average will end up slightly below series 7s unless the second half of the series suddenly starts to soar or there's a mega finale. All the episodes bar 1 are below the s7 average. Still very good but consistent with the gradual decline of the last few years. The new Doctor hasn't changed that despite what some claimed it would do. Tbh I don't think Capaldi makes a blind bit of difference and whilst it's the same show runner things will gradually continue to tail off. Moffat's had a good run but his version of the show is lacking freshness and I hope we see a new show runner soon. The show does feel a bit tired. Maybe a year's break and a proper relaunch might do it good? Kind of feels like it's treading water right now and has nothing new to offer.

It's difficult because it's obviously still popular so the BBC will want it around but maybe a bit oversaturated after last year and creatively feels stuck in a rut. Definitely needs a fresh perspective in charge.

It's fine but it'd be nice if it was better than fine!

Perhaps the new writers will have something new to offer.

This series has already had something 'new' to offer. He's called 'The 12th Doctor' . Those who continuously link an imaginary decline in ratings with the need for a new 'team' (it's at least more subtle than 'Moffat Must Go!) at the helm, may not recognise it but it's there...and, as you say, is only likely to increase in the second half of the series.

People should also note that ratings are down across the board. Doctor Who is actually one of the more minorly affected. Downton Abbey is down about a million on last year, Strictly as well, and less said about the X-Factor's decline the better.

It's unfair to pin Doctor Who's decline solely on the content of the show when in fact, less people are watching TV live, and things like iPlayer is becoming more and more important, which is what the BBC also use to measure a program's success.

In fact, taking iPlayer into account, Deep Breath has a rating of around 10.5 million.

A nice line at the end of the BBC News Online story about Saturday's Strictly vs X-Factor ratings battle. It talks about X-Factor being on a three-year downward trend but finishes with: One show not to have suffered a ratings hit over the weekend was cult sci-fi series Doctor Who, which was shown an hour later than usual on Saturday to accommodate the start of Strictly. The usual average of 4.8m viewers tuned in to catch up with the adventures of new Doctor Peter Capaldi.

So its good to see the BBC itself reporting positively about Doctor Who's overnights remaining static. Personally, I would love it if the overnights were a little closer to 5.5m but I guess as long as the finals stay at about 7m then we're doing fine.

I understand that, and they're good points - I had just always imagined that Doctor Who would be performing on another level compared to previous occupiers of that post-Strictly slot. Merlin was for sure a strong & steady show that captured a good anti-XF audience, but it was never anything approaching a flagship show - with the endless promo, magazine covers, stunts in Parliament Square and prime Christmas Day airings which that entails.

Have to emphasise again that I don't think its wrong for Who get that treatment. I had just always imagined that with the (IMO) better timing and scheduling of this series and the excitement of a new Doctor after the 50th it may have kicked on to slightly more imposing ratings. Instead, it's performance (by its own high standards) is maybe best described as 'modest'.

I doubt a new show runner would make all that much difference (up or down) to the Ratings if a new Doctor does not.


Half the viewers probably don't even know who the show runner is and wouldn't even know if they changed.

And what changes exactly could a new show runner introduce? If they messed with the basic concepts of the show (Time Lord travels Space and Time with Companion(s) and saves the Earth and occasionally somewhere else) the core audience would be up in arms.

Any minor variations such as between the RTD and Moffat era's wouldn't IMO make all that much difference in Ratings. You'd lose some viewers and gain some others.


We're almost 10 years into the new show now probably the only way to vastly increase the Ratings for individual episodes is to do a number (say 6) of feature length episodes spread out over each year rather than a 12/13 episode series.