If we could throw in the iPlayer views it would be in the 8 or 9 millions, Who usually gets around 2m iPlayer views per episode.

You had around that number of iPlayer views last series as well as 7 million in consolidated ratings.

Not as many are watching this series.

Nobody said that the numbers weren't dropping, I was merely pointing out that the numbers are still good (hopefully, we've not seen the iPlayer numbers I was basing it off of last year).

Yes you're right. Ratings aren't as high as last year but 6m is a good figure.

That's not the case. iPlayer views are for the most part already included in the consolidated ratings. The parts that don't seem to only add up to about 0.4m.

The Witch's Familiar 28 Day Consolidation: 6.15m

Can you remind me if that means the world is at an end or not? Do we need to string anybody up?

We'll have to wait our turn, unfortunately. The worlds of Emmerdale, Doc Martin and New Tricks face maximum destrucion first. Although we overtook England vs Wales in the end, so I'm not entirely sure how we go about dealing with that. I rather like the ground beneath my feet.

Right you are. I think I might still write an angry letter to Points of View about the schedulers. 08:15 is past my bed time.

Well, that all depends...

If you've already made your mind up that Moffat is the anti-Christ and is doing everything he can to ruin Doctor Who, then it's proof positive that the show is in terminal decline and SM and all his cronies should be hung, drawn and quartered immediately.

If, on the other hand, you subscribe to a more realistic view of life, then 6.15 million viewers really is pretty good in today's TV watching climate, and as long as Doctor Who is still one of the most talked about and most watched shows on British TV (which it demonstrably is), then no-one needs stringing up and we can all go about our daily business without worrying about imminent cancellations and all the attendant End Of The World Is Nigh nonsense.

Or, there's always the third option taken by the vast majority of sane people in the world - it's only a blithering TV show, so what the hell does any of this matter? But of course we are reading and posting on a Doctor Who forum so that third option really isn't an option to any of us!!

Take your pick.

It's fine in that the show won't be instantly cancelled on those numbers but realistically it's a chunk down from last series.

Same with all ratings 'issues' for DW - you can't deny it's down but it's not disastrous. Basically it's now back into the pack where drama is concerned rather than being ahead of the pack. It's biggest sticking point is it costs an awful lot more to make than most dramas. It's fortunate in that it sells very well which helps justify it and negate that issue somewhat.

...though without Doc Foster, we're leading the pack for the Beeb by 1m outside of soaps - behind Downton on the other side.

Moff himself has said that he thinks the current time is too late

I'll ask him if he wants to join me in my lynch mob to sort the BBC schedulers out. Pitchforks at the ready...

What else was Moffatt expecting when Strictly, a live show, has resided in it's usual Autumn time slot since 2004. Strictly can not be shifted to a later time as the 'SCD Results' show is recorded immediately after the live show and in front of an audience that need to catch their coach or train home by 10:30pm.

Not sure it's about what he was expecting but nevertheless he can be aware it's going to happen and still not be happy about it (or not think that it's ideal).

Yet he was the one who split the series and shifted it to autumn. Wasn't he?!

I really don't think he has any say in scheduling whatsoever, but don't let that get in the way of a good dig!

He never led people to believe it was his own great idea to ensure children were never more than a few weeks away from new Who at any time of the year?

I can't recall him explicitly saying it was his idea or that the schedulers acted upon his idea. Do you have a source?

Part of his job will be to put a positive spin on what the powers that be decide. Even if he didn't have a say or didn't agree with it he would have to spin it to the media as he is the face of the production side of DW.

So if he did lead people to believe the split was a good thing for whatever reason, it doesn't mean it was his choice or even if he liked it.

I believe he was certainly an advocate of moving to the Autumn though and he must have therefore had an idea of what the scheduling would be given both Merlin and Atlantis had the same 'issues'.

I think I read somewhere (though may be mistaken) that he requested the series split for Series 6, but that he never requested the one we got for Series 7.

That is of course still only a request... it doesn't indicate he actually got a say or not

Exactly. Some of us need to think of what we do to keep our company looking good.

It might stink to have no Who for awhile but to expect "honesty" in the BBC rushing to confirm this and that it is because of their own mismanagement is highly naive.

Wonder if Halloween will effect the ratings.