The final number will be fine, but it's the rest of the series I'm worried about. Ratings tend to go down after the first episode, so what the hell can we expect to see next week?

Headlines similar to this.

Maybe they should put Doctor Who on first look on iPlayer then BBC 1 like Carshare

It would help is they were not up against the finals in a rugby match...which people do watch live.

I winced when I saw the figures. However. DW is a franchise worth so much to the BBC; the ratings around the globe continue to grow. The money that BBC Worldwide make from the show is likely ludicrous. I can't see it going anywhere soon. Besides, what could they replace it with that would guarantee a core fan base and such opportunities for merchandise? I think Who will be with us for a while yet.

Lets ne honest.
There is no way they would just axe the show. they would get rid of Moffat more than likely PC then after a series of massive changes if ratings didn't improve turn the series into a few years of "specials".

I totally agree with other posters I would love the series back in the spring I think its been a huge mistake moving to the Autumn. Its just a shame Moffat didn't get PC's doctor right from the start. It doesn't help the series you still get Tennant's fan club on twitter saying how Old PC that he's a crap actor.

If the stories in this series are around the level we saw last night that's really going to help a lot.

what doesn't help the nerves the BBC is pretty much in the same position it was in the 80's. A government that wants serious changes/value for money and a corporation that's pleading poverty and scaling back as much as it can.

Bafflingly stupid from a marketing point of view. Probably a solid enough line when heard in context of the story it is in, but to use it in the trailer? Hmmm.

I have a nice mental image of Malcolm Tucker watching the trailer, spitting out a bucket of expletives and immediately phoning DoSAC to spit out some more, before going around to bollock them all again in person. Then he'd randomly grab a laptop out of a protesting Glenn Cullen's hands and drag Ollie Reeder into a side office to edit the video. Ollie would say he doesn't have or know anything about image editing software so they end up editing it on YouTube.

We'll all be looking out for Yog's updates won't we?

I can't see much coverage in the papers, oddly enough. Anyone else seen anything? Looks like the BBC website (oddly enough) is the only media to give the overnight ratings drop any real prominence.

Probably because, outside of obsessive fandom, it's not actually that big a deal.

I do wonder, also, if its because the press has become a bit more sensitive to the shortcomings of the overnights - unlike the boring BBC news hack who had nothing better to do Sunday.

By the way, here's Sunday's Australian top-10 shows:

1. The X Factor (Seven) - 1.26 million
2. News (Seven) - 1.225 million
3. Peter Allen: Not the boy next door Part 2 (Seven) - 1.212 million
4. Nine News (Nine) - 1.185 million
5. The Block (Nine) - 1.037 million
6. News (ABC) - 936,000
7. 60 Minutes (Nine) - 859,000
8. Doctor Who (ABC) - 653,000
9. Vera (ABC) - 606,000
10. TBL Families (Ten) - 543,000
* Source OzTAM

There is the broader point that ratings matter much less when Dr Who generates income via international broadcast rights, the Doctor Who Experience, global tours and events, the licensing of novels, toys, games, exhibitions and so forth. However, what lower ratings might be more likely to encourage is seasons of specials, seasons split over 2 years, and so forth. They need to keep making enough Dr Who to keep interest in all the other stuff, but unfortunately we might have to face that this might mean that we lose a series or half a series every 3-4 years.

Of course, the rugby is an important point - I expect that the BBC will be bracing themselves for a ratings battering this Autumn. It's not just the live match time - it's the people who've gone to the pub or a friend's to watch the game, the people who switch over to the secondary match on ITV4, the people who delayed cooking so they could watch the game live - the matches will disrupt ratings all night.

The Magician's Apprentice

Live: 3.326m
Live + VOSDAL: 4.645m
+ Day 1: 5.737m


(just so people are aware, I may not be as reliable to get you the figures this series. But will do my best to get them to you all when possible)

Thanks Yog.

Do you have anything for Doc Martin, Doctor Foster and Bake Off?

Thank you Yog101. More than an extra million after day 1!!

A good start

It usually does add 1m after day 1 but you'd expect a higher timeshift overall if some people watched later due to competing programmes. If it is around 2m then it will be the first opener not to hit at least 7m.

Did you expect it to timeshifted more after one day?

Slightly more yes. Closer to 1.3m.

Still think it could reach 7 million(hope it does anyway) I would have expected slightly higher as well...

Thank you, and I know that you always strive to do your best.

For a bit of context, the most excellent Yog's figures for daily timeshift for Deep Breath last year

Live + VOSDAL: 6.795m
+ Day 1: 7.891m
+ Day 2: 8.438m
+ Day 3: 8.619m
+ Day 4: 8.789m
+ Day 5: 8.892m

Incidentally, if you want to compare it's progress with the latest BARB finals: http://www.barb.co.uk/whats-new/weekly-top-30?_s=4

Cheers Yog, mildly disappointing again but not unexpected. Unlikely to hit 7m from here.

Also if it hits 6.653m, that will show that more in fact did not watch it live (and that's still not even including iPlayer).