Seen in the pap today that DiH had a peak of 6.6m viewers beaten only by strictly and xf for Saturday night and thus was second most watched program on bbc.

These are all good points. And yes, a finale should be a shoe-in for a nice AI number. It always has been, until now. For a finale to get 83 is actually quite shocking considering how highly they usually score.

Maybe it's simply down to the older, less fanciable Doctor? There will be a chunk of viewers who want a lead they are attracted to...or a Doctor closer to their age bracket. That's what they have been used to.

Dinosaurs on a Spaceship got an AI of 87 and The Curse of the Black Spot got 86...and if people think they were better than the vast majority of this years episodes ..they deserve a slap.

Is the panel who generate the AI figure composed of responses from all viewing age groups? I just wonder if with the later start time the initial audience from whom I assume the AI response figure is derived might be older skewing than in past years and perhaps this audience is less easily pleased and more critical than younger viewers??

I think there's a difference between how hardcore fans see the show and how it plays with the general audience. I think Fear Her is dreadful and yet I'm stunned that people enjoyed it.

Something about this series hasn't connected with some of the audience and that is reflected in the AI scores.

Live + VOSDAL: 5.445m
+ Day 1: 6.879m
+ Day 2: 7.161m

Note: I won't be able to bring updates on Thursday and Friday, so tomorrow will be my last update of Series 8 (until Christmas of course).

Thanks for all the updates this series Yog... Very much appreciated!

Nice one, Yog. Not bad at all.

I appreciate the comments above about AI's and am sure they are a reasonable indicator of how the programme is being received, but as long as they remain 'Very good' I'm not too concerned. The End of Time's AI's were sky high so guess I'm not in step with what is considered Excellent Doctor Who.

If I had consistently been scoring 87% in my end of year exams and suddenly dipped to 83% one year, I wouldn't be too worried.

I doubt Moffat will be losing any sleep over this, a 3-4% drop is miniscule.

The AI's are tricky things. As has already been said, End Of Time was very highly appreciated by the general audience, but objectively, it was a bit of a mess and got mixed reviews both from the critics and within DW fandom.

Moffat has to tread a fine line between writing things that connect with the general audience while keeping his artistic integrity and writing things that he thinks are clever, involving and challenging.

If the AI had dropped some way below 70, I'm sure Moffat would ask himself some searching questions and perhaps change direction slightly in order to win back the casual viewer. But a drop of 3-4% really makes no odds, and Moffat will feel no pressure to change direction. Series 8 is clearly still connecting with a lot of people and it's also been very highly regarded by both critics and large sections of DW fandom.

If it ain't broke.....

Yes agree. The tabloids could easily be running silly stories about 'millions deserting the show' by comparing overnights now and five years ago.

But they're not (I think) because (1) they actually understand the shift from watching live to catch-up and (2) the like/rate the show and don't want to write negative stuff about its popularity.

Well I enjoyed Dinosaurs on a Spaceship much more than Listen so clearly need to be put on the naughty step by the Who connoisseurs who curate these things. Slapping of course is completely out of fashion for naughty children these days.

To my mind the correlation between misery-guts Doctor (yes I know he had a sardonic and cutting sense of humour) and incomprehensible plotting (I am listening to you Listen) was more or less bound to be received somewhat less enthusiastically by a general audience.

I must admit I'm a massive Who fan but didn't really enjoy Listen as much as other episodes. If I'm honest I preferred Forrest and Robin Hood.

Sorry.

Listen is my lowest rated episode this year except for Forest. It's one of three I rated 7/10 (Forest was 6/10).

Robin Hood was one of three episodes I rated my highest (9/10).

I guess everyone has different tastes

Last update of Series 8 before I crawl back into my cave:

Live + VOSDAL: 5.445m
+ Day 1: 6.879m
+ Day 2: 7.161m
+Day 3: 7.331m

Thanks a lot Yog! Thanks for the whole series as ever, see you at Christmas!

Great figures as well, already higher than everything except Deep Breath and it's got to have overtaken Dark Water by now.

Thanks Yog.

Looks likely to hit 7.5/7.6m. Is it going to get any timing corrections?

Thanks Yog... Timeshift of 1.8m already, could sneek to 7.6m....

Doctor Who being considered a hit by the BBC on overnights alone should throw a spanner in the works for less informed publications.

Danny Cohen





Sorry, got carried away

Well there you have it: Proof. The show is going to be cancelled next year. The BBC can see through the sheeple who only watch it because it's Doctor Who and have already set the axe in motion.
This is irrefutable. It's going to happen. QED.

I'll send these quotes to the 'Doctor Who Rants' account on twitter... Might shut them up, i doubt it, but it might!

Still Tenth on iplayer a week later.

Nice to see those quotes above from someone who actually is involved in the recommisioning of the show.

I read via Metacritic (which takes on board all critical analysis across TV, Film and Music albums) that it scored 80% which is considered Excellent! for Series 8.

Love that the ratings have been so consistent across this series and facing off such competition ...but also how consistent it has been across almost 10 years....there is lots of life in it.

And for me this series has been the best yet!

I urge to come full circle is a strong one.

Atlantis Series Premiere: 4.2m
iPlayer Ranking: 8th

Lets hope it hits 7m, right.

Courtesy of DMN in the ratings thread. Death In Heaven has a final figure of 7.60m.