No, ratings don’t and shouldn’t matter. At the end of the day, someone should be able to enjoy a film or TV show regardless of how well a piece of media does or doesn’t do. The same goes for reviews and people thinking opinions are fact. Take me for example, the only time I enjoyed RTD1 was S4 (and the only series from that era I rewatch) due to the Doctor and their companion (luckily, Donna) not being a thing like how 9/10 and Rose were or Martha wanting 10’s dick at every chance she could get. Also, I prefer Classic Who over Nu Who because there’s proper storytelling and most of the stories/characters are enjoyable. So what if [insert series/episode of a TV show or particular movie from a franchise] doesn’t do well, there is an audience out there for everything or everyone. It’s 2023 (nearly 2024) for crying out loud, the TV landscape has changed. Especially with streaming/catch up being a thing now. What you want differs to want someone else wants, or what is put on screen made by the actual showrunner. Just be glad Doctor Who isn’t a Netflix-exclusive show, it would get cancelled after 1 series.
Considering that ratings for TV Shows are all declining because of streaming platforms, they're not really as much of an issue now. But before streaming platforms they were very much a look in on how well a TV Show does. But in short, viewer ratings matter less than they used to.
A few people seem to have enjoyed the flat noise interpretation of Doctor Who over the past few years. I found that, for the first time since 1964, I found nothing overall outstood a blank TV screen. So I fell asleep, a whole blissful afternoon's nap and woke after it ended. With previous Doctors and writers, I would have been very disappointed, bereft that this had happened. Strangely enough, I felt nothing. This is what happens, say I, when a production team strays off what works! Imagination engaged with engaging characters that aren't flatly written and portrayed and a central character that isn't a cardboard cut-off of a Marvel character. If this Doctor had made an appearance in Mr. Ben, she wouldn't have seemed out of place.
hi sorry about what’s happening with your channel hopefully everything works out for you. I believe the ratings in regards to David Tennant he was the fave of nu who. He won all the NTA awards for his portrayal of the doctor etc. At the end of the day it’s just a bunch of numbers. I’m just returning to Doctor who i quit watching the show mainly because of a jodie’s performance as the doctor, her cardboard companions and the stories. I’m only coming back to the show because David Tennant is coming back. He’s my all time go to fave doctor and i grew up with the show. My first intro to the doctor was Jon Pertwee and my last until the 60th was Peter Capaldi. I would kill for more of David as the doctor like the meta crisis doctor, timelord victorious doctor perhaps a spin off of the doctor and Jenny his daughter having adventures after meeting again basically anything David Tennant related. I will give Ncuti a chance with one episode like i did Jodie but if it’s rubbish then my time with doctor who will be finished and i’ll go on cherishing the doctor from Jon Pertwee right up to Peter Capaldi and that will be than. No actor has ever had the biggest impact of me by portraying the doctor like David Tennant did. His doctor is the only one i watch over and over and have memorised all the lines to plus his regeneration broke my heart so much so that it still upsets me even after all this time. Two things i’m not looking forward to with the 60th specials David Tennant leaving again and two his regeneration as i haven’t gotten over the last one. The countdown to the 60th has begun. Good luck with your youtube channel i’ll keep my fingers crossed for you. Take care😘
I still remember having to study the RU-vid copyright system when I was a 13 year old trying to be a RU-vidr, and it’s still broken in the exact same way a decade later. Crazy how little work they’ve put into it.
It wasn’t so bad back in the day because you could let an MCN take a slither of your revenue for protection against the strikes. All the MCN’s now are scams and don’t protect you from anything. They also massively up charge for the very few services they do provide.
Ive personally put myself on a self-induced hiatus multiple times throughout Doctor Who, especially in the later seasons where two-parters are more common because of my distaste for cliffhangers between episodes and because of that i often missed the actual premiere of episodes in order to binge watch many in a row later, so ratings matter much less to me because of that
I think the ratings “used” to matter, but with the advent of DVR and later, streaming services (that aren’t included in ratings numbers afaik), they matter less than they ever have. On top of that, what people aren’t considering is; while yes, Doctor Who has lower numbers than it used to, but so do most other shows as well…a better judge (if one is needed), is percentage of viewers (which can still be skewed due to above reason).
No analysis of the ratings is complete without the recognition that ratings for literally every single show on television worldwide are going down for a variety of reasons, including more shows to watch, more entertainment options overall, and the fact that most people watch streaming television - often binging shows months after broadcast - these days. Doctor Who's ratings aren't dropping any faster or slower than the rest of television. Yet, very few people talking about Who's ratings acknowledge this very important context.
I always heard the falling ratings argument used against Peter Capaldi and Jodie Whittaker's era. I've always debated against this because the fact of the matter is that no one really watches TV anymore unless it's for HUGE events that require livestreaming. There's also the rise of streaming services. Capaldi started his reign when Netflix was becoming more and more popular and Jodie's era was right in the midst of the rise of even more streaming services. And with the chibnall era the show wasn't promoted as much as it was beforehand. A lot of people didn't know it was even on.
@@nick_thompsonYeah, except not really, no. I for one didn't mind his writing, most didn't. Despite what misogynistic trolls think, we real fans enjoyed it.
@@lexruptor Iv been a fan since the late 80s and I watched it all to support the series but I really did not enjoy 13, not because of Jodie being the dr though. I’m a big fan of her acting work but chibnalls writing was just so abysmal it ruined what could have been a glorious new era with a female dr. The first episode was in terms of writing quality so far behind capaldi under Moffat let alone smiths era or rtd1. There were a few good episodes, I enjoyed the Rosa parks episode (though the villain was weak) and spy fall had a few fun moments… but overall it just wasn’t fun to watch and really could have been so brilliant if handled differently.
hoping the channel stays up! I can't even tell you how much I enjoy your videos! doctor who is something that is so close to me and your videos really reignited my passion for it and showed me so much more about it! hope you can keep it up! cheers from Detroit, Michigan!
When it comes to The Power of the Doctor it actually did really well as it was the second most watched show of the Sunday it was broadcast and the fifth most watched of the week, which is very impressive! This is why it's always good to look at context: how well does the show perform compared to the rest of the TV, that is what ultimately matters! TV has changed a lot, and how we consume it has changed and this is reflected in the viewing figures, Doctor Who is not unique in this regard, if it was unique in this then that would be concerning (like in the late 80s) but it's not
Exactly! The reason for the falling ratings has more to do with the fact that people just don't watch tv as much anymore. We're in the age of streaming. As you said, put Doctor Who up with other shows and it can be seen that it's doing just as good if not even better than those series'.
@@blastfromthepast-o1dThat's misinformation if ever I saw any. Please do tell, in what ways and by who were they boosted artificially? Names, articles, links? Oh what, you don't have any because you make it all up?
There is also a website that provides the weekly Rankings in comparison to other shows for each episode. Which provides more context. Like, the Series 13 premiere had about 5.81 Million watching all together. But it was still 8th Place for that week. Context matters.
I was trying to find the figures for the day but couldn't. I was going to include it in the video but didn't because I don't have the evidence but I strongly remember it being in the top 2/3 of the day
@dwfan91- if you just look up "Doctor who ratings" you can find a website with the Viewership, date, share, length and ranking for every single episode of the show from 1963-today.
In regards to the last 5 minutes… most people who I’ve asked about the 60th have gone oh hell yeah I can’t wait, or oh wait David tenants back? He’s my favourite, yeah I’ll watch it! Like when talking to general people, not people I already know to be fans, I genuinely don’t think I’ve had people react this positive towards new dr who since like series 6 or 7
I’m only returning to Doctor who because David Tennant is back sadly for only 3 episodes would absolutely kill for more episodes of him as the doctor with Donna as his companion. David Tennants doctor is my all time fave doctor and his regeneration as 10 still kills me. I grew up with dr who. my first intro to the doctor was Jon Pertwee. If Ncuti’s doctor is as bad as Jodie’s (hers i hated) then my doctor who journey started with Jon Pertwee all the way up to Peter Capaldi then it stops dead. Take care and i enjoyed reading your comment. 😘🏴
@@alisonscott1469 well who’s to say but as a guy who also dislikes the 13th doctor.. I’m very hopeful that ncutis take on the character will be a timeless classic
@@tom_4615 I have faith in RTD. Disney i’m not so sure about and as for Ncuti i’m sure he’ll put his own stamp on the doctor like all the others. I just hope it doesn’t end up like the 13th Doctor. What do you think of David Tennant and Catherine Tate coming back for the 60th? Personally i’ve already expressed my fangirling 🥰 for David Tennant and i love his doctors chemistry with Donna. Take care and i hope you enjoy the 60th doctor who specials etc. 😘🏴
Another thing about Ratings The New Year Specials of the Whittacker era naturally have worse viewer numbers than the Capaldi Christmas specials Also, People don't account for Doctor Who on Iplayer, International Streaming services, Merchendise, Brand Deals (Like Lego Dimensions) and Home media (DVD and Blue Ray) releases
I think what matters more than the ratings is the show's presence (or lack thereof) in the wider culture. It feels like it lost its cultural presence some time after the 50th, during Capaldi's tenture, and the marketing push when Jodie came on failed to make up for that
I'm not from the UK. And I know a lot of people who ain't, too but we still want to watch it. Not half a year later, but at the premier days, please. If Disney+ would stream the '23 specials worldwide and not only in the UK, the views will skyrock. 10mio views would be a joke then Btw. Good luck with this stupid strike you got...
I was expecting this to be click bait rage farm stuff and was very happy. I had noticed the way people talk about the ratings of the show to bash Jodie very much did not take anything in context of how the ratings tended to work.
Hey, sorry to hear about that copyright business man, I had no idea. Sil must be up to something. Hopefully you can get it sorted out, but if not are you planning on reuploading everything to a new channel if you keep going? Obviously it wouldn't be ideal, but if you make a post about it or comment the name or something so everyone knows I'd love to follow you over. But obviously it's up to you boss. Glad to see you're not letting them get you down and you're just keeping on doing what you're doing. Even if we can't find you in the algorithm again, it's good know you're out here making something as long as you enjoy it. Whatever you do, we're all with you king.
I hate the Web Planet. I'm very happy to suspend my belief for a tv show, but this was the only episode so far where I can't get passed the costuming. Genuinely couldn't get into the episode because the costuming bothered me so much
3:22 yes but if u get a lot of copyright claims you’ll eventually get your first copyright strike and ik this because I’m a RU-vidr myself and I receive lots of copyrights 😅 and also copyright strikes are when your channel usually gets deleted
The conslidated figures for The Star Beast are 9 million, just one million less than Rose. There was a dip over the years but there's nothing to worry about
I think Series 11 was probably the best chance to secure strong ratings with the radical shake up. A Woman Doctor was probably the only big surprise the show could pull off and it blew it. Tenants return was never gonna be as rejuvinating for the show as it was made out to be.
I hope the specials do incredibly well ratings-wise, but if they somehow don't, there are other ways to judge somethings success besides ratings. The amount of merchandise, spinoffs spawned. I imagine that in the end the numbers won't matter and that the 60th by many will still be considered a success
so sorry to hear about your channel, i hope it stays up, if your channel was taken down do you think you’d ever continue your presence on social media, would you still make content?
Im downloading a couple of your videos just in case your channel gets deleted but I think you’ll manage to appeal the claim Also once again GOATED VIDEO
I don’t think ratings matter as a marker of quality, but they do matter as if ratings are too low the BBC may cut the show or lower it’s budget. You may argue that the BBC will see how many people stream the episode after the premier, which they will, but if BBC has a show pumping better premier ratings then they will still get in line behind that show and shed the waste.
I think this used to be the case but Doctor Who is the only real show the BBC has left anymore. I don't think they're gonna be cutting it off any time soon, especially now a lot of the finances are out of their hands
I'm watching this three months after you posted it, but I think the viewing figures that came out were very good for the specials. I don't think those viewing figures count people that watch on BBC IPlayer or on Disney Plus, so if you include those numbers the specials very well may have had some of the highest ratings any episode of Dr. Who has ever had.
Personally I am satisfied with the ratings and they’re around where I predicted (within the 7-8 million range) but what this video was mostly meant to combat where the mindless mob spewing hate about “ratings” when they really have no idea what they’re talking about. Of course this is a futile endeavour because we saw that happen anyway but it is what it is
@@dwfan91- It's interesting that so many people ignore your very well stated facts of the numbers and just ignore them. I see a common thing is people think the BBC is in control of those rating numbers and makes them up to.... but that's all done through an independent organization that comes up with the rating figures for every TV channel in the UK, correct?
@@regaltoast I saw some people thinking that Doctor Who Magazine is in control of the ratings- at this point people will believe whatever they want to believe
Considering that it'd now a streaming show outside of the UK ratings don't matter as much,,, it's a 60 years old show, with 18 years since it's been back ... Doctor Who won't get huge numbers like it did HOWEVER it does still get a solid audience share which is the number to look at ... If 20 million are watching telly the same time and episode airs and it gets 4 million of that thats a fifth if the total audience choosing to tune in...which is fantastic ....so doesn't matter Jodie's era still got in top 10 and her final was a top 5 hit ...series 11 through to her finale remained 20-30 percent audience share still so if these specials sustain that and new era THAT is showing consistency if it drops... Like less than 20 percent thatdvwhy it's a concern failing that ,,, doctor who we know will be on air til 2028 as it stands anyway
YAY I GOT ANOTHER COOKIE, also just realised I wasn't subscribed. Sorry. Fixed it now. Thanks for making this it was incredibly interesting. I am a pro wrestling fan, there's arguments on a weekly basis about ratings and why one show may have done better numbers than the other.
If we compare these figures to a beloved show like breaking bad (A lot lower) you’ll see Doctor who has always had a successful run rating wise. What I will say with the upcoming episodes with heaps of hype around it not just in the UK but all over the world (I’m in Australia and just did a dr who event which was super busy and everyone here is so hyped and keen) I will say anyone who can tune in to bbc on the 60th anniversary episode will so the increase will be shown but lots of fans don’t have access to that so I wonder if ratings will be released on Disney plus contributions? If I could access the bbc from over here I would but alas!
I think that mainly is to do with the era itselfbut you can elays have a different opinion than me. With 9/10s eras, the writing was decent, good actors, good storylines 11s era was also well written and even with Series 6/7, the ratings where still around the same as previous seasons You get into 12s era and it starts off strong in Series 8, then in Series 9/10, the ratings were dropping and that was ptobably because of the writing being a bit poor at times and maybe people not liking capaldi much. We get into 13s era and the first episode of Series 11 starts out with a whopping 10.96M but then they drop a bit as the series goes on, ending with 6.6M ish with Episode 10. They then really depleet in Series 12 and around the same in Series 13, a new low for Legend of the Sea Devils. This is probably because of the writing being very poor, some of the acting not being as strong, poor development for characters, people not liking 13 for reasons that could be the doctor being a woman or something else. With the new era, as RTD delivered a fantastic performance for his first eras and the writing always being superb, I do think the 60th, Series 14+ will definately puck up in popularity but lots of people left after 13s era as lots of people just completed hated the show afterwards and no interest in whatever happens and like I said with a female doctor, people probably dont accept a black gay man to be the doctor, or a trans man being in the show or a drag queen taking on a major role for an episode. But we'll see what the viewing figures and ratings will be like when The Star Beast, Wild Blue Yonder and The Giggle air and Ncuti's first episode, The Church on Ruby Road. I think wit Disney+ being involved and new viewers itll probably go to like 8M+ or even 10M+
26:30 "Lost, Buffy, Firefly, there's a lot of banger shows on at the moment" Two of those three shows ended more than a full year before the doctor who revival began.
I meant moreso Early 2000s in general but sure if you want to be pedantic, yes firefly was 2003 and dr who was 2005. The success of Buffy in particular though is important to the history of Doctor Who and the reason I called it out specifically is that Russel T Davies cited it as one of the main ways he convinced the BBC that there was interest in a revival in the first place. So while yes, Firefly was a failure in terms of ratings so probably not the best example to bring up, the other two are still important to note
Just in case your channel gets deleted, I'd suggest making a backup channel now and tell people to subscribe to that as well so that people who actively watch you at least are already subscribed.
Ratings are far more complex than big being good and small being bad when distribution stake is part of the broadcaster's game. The BBC doesn't rely on advertising so ratings on the BBC aren't important if its share of production costs are exceeded by its share of distribution costs.
Even though this channel may be taken down, its been good, though, hasn’t it? All of us, all of it. Everything you did. You were brilliant, and we were brilliant. Blimey.
Ratings have never been a good way to judge quality, the AI (Audience Appreciation) figure is a better guide to that and tells its own story, with Chibnall era having more Ai scores sub 80 than any other series of NuWho (in fact it has more below 80 than RTD and Moffats entire runs added together). And I think that's probably a truer representation of the general feeling of the quality of that era.
@@diccchocolate416 If you google 'Doctor Who Ai ratings' look for 'Doctor Who News- Doctor Who Ratings'' -it should be near the top of the search. It lists episodes in order of highest to lowest AI for all of Who including classic, you will find Chibnall era on the second page. It should be noted however how the BBC calculate the AI figures changed between Classic and NuWho so they are less directly comparable.
I think AI is the most pointless metric there is. Heaven Sent is considered the best story of all time and it ONLY has an AI of 80, there's unpopular episodes that are higher than that!
@@friendlyotaku9525 It gives a sense of how an episode sits with the general audience, not just fans, and those are two different things. It's no surprise an episode so out the norm and experimental and philosophical would be less 'crowd pleasing' than others to a casual audience expecting more of the usual Who shenanigans. What the Ai gives a sense of is how the general public feel about the show. Im quite sure Ai of just fans would give different scores, but that's not what the Ai is for, it's the BBC's internal metric for determining how well or not a show is going down with the public. And during RTD and Moffat era it very rarely fell below 80 whereas Chibnall manages more below in one single series than in all of NuWho combined preceding it. And I think that's probably a fair and quite accurate overall reflection of how the public responded to that era - not with hate, more an indifferent 'meh'.
@@pettytyrant2720 Well I think it just goes to show the public isn't always right - though we kinda knew that anyway but I digress. Keep in mind though with something like Flux because of it's format it's no surprise the AI was the way it was, it's very different to a more typical series, whereas Series 11 and 12 generally fared much better on average since they were more like typical Doctor Who.
Fantastic analysis! Really enjoyed this - i think it seems like Dr who has it's natural ebbs and flows, but the fact its lasted 60 years is indeed credit to the actors, cast & showrunners!
some major cope in this video people are sick of the writing and woke tripe in doctor who its one of my favourite shows of all time and i haven't watched since the start of Capaldis doctor when the writing truly went off a cliff, i notice how you didnt look at the actual fan ratings of the show just viewer numbers and even cope with them despite who fans like me saying the reasons why they aint watching the new tripe they call the doctor a "male presenting doctor" while mocking him that alone is annoying but the fact he was JUST a woman makes it even worse. Im sure all 12 of you that watch the rest of this new season will enjoy yourselves lmao
I enjoy your content but I'll be honest the bit about the Chibnal Era sounds like copium to me I can only talk from my personal experience but at that time I knew absolutely no one that watched Doctor Who even people who were fans of it Even me a lifelong fan that had been watching it since I was a baby stopped watching it. It wasn't due to competition those viewing figures usually include iPlayer Sorry it was just badly written and no one wanted to bother with it anymore In my opinion while viewing figures can't tell if an individual episode is bad they can tell if a series is bad Obviously people don't know if an episode is good or bad till they watch it but if they've watched many bad ones in a row they're going to switch off.
I disagree because there are lots of seasons I would say are great that have pretty poor showings (6,18,26 and Modern 9/10). Jodie Whittaker's era simply followed the already established trend of lower numbers across the board. She got a little less than Peter Capaldi who got a little less than Matt Smith who got a little less than David Tennant. I think people treat viewing figures the way they do Rotten Tomatoes scores lol
I understand why this feels compelling, but it's simply not possible to know enough people to constitute a significant sample. It would, in some ways, be great if there was a clear correlation between the quality of episodes and viewing figures, but there are simply too many other factors in play. I do expect a slight increase in ratings under RTD, but I this will be about (1) the BBC going all out to market the show (I get the feeling Chibnall, and to a lesser extent Moffatt, didn't engage with the marketing department as much as RTD did - Russell is slightly unusual amongst writers in that he both understands the business side of television and embraces it; he doesn't regard marketing as beneath him or an offence to his integrity as an artist), (2) returning to a season every year at roughly the same time and a Christmas Special - RTD will produce the volume of content the BBC wants on the schedule they demand, (3) returing to Saturday night, which is where people expect to find the show. We also get the "new Doctor" bump twice in quick succession, something that I think helped Tennant's run first time around. I've seen some fans anticipating a return to late 2000s figures, but that's just insane. No one gets those kinds of ratings anymore; viewing habits have changed dramatically in the last 15 years. Even including iPlayer numbers don't fully address that as there are significant numbers who wait for a season to air in its entirety because they prefer to binge it.
@@dwfan91- I mean if people were viewing it and then they stop there's usually a decent reason While obviously I think it's not always a direct reflection of how good it is It is a reflection on how many people are turning off. Like it or not if guy went on the Doctor Who subreddits or places where Doctor Who was discussed most of the posts were about how they hated it. Like I remember the Live Discussion of The Timeless Children and almost all of the comments were "Well fuck this" or "What's on ITV" There are more to ratings than just quality you're right But when everyone seems to dislike an era and the ratings are falling like a brick then maybe there's a correlation
@@thebobbrom7176 Maybe you'd have a point but the ratings aren't falling like a brick. They're just on a steady decline. It's why I made a point to compare Series 9 and 10's ratings to 12 and 13's, they're basically the same. A fall from an average of 6.9 for Capaldi to 6.7 for Whittaker isn't that demonstrable, but I will 100% concede that in the online discourse the episodes are very unpopular
@@chrispalmer7893 Lots of TV shows still get late 2000's doctor who viewing figures. All of the top 10 most watched dramas of 2022 had over 8 million viewers average. Doctor Who should be aiming for these sorts of numbers.
Glad you went to the trouble to look into classic Who to show that even a Doctor as beloved as Tom Baker saw a steep drop. Ratings are always just the straws that haters grasp at.
During the years of solid writing, my family BOUGHT Doctor Who on iTunes. Did this figure into ratings somehow? Here is USA, will people be allowed to PURCHASE Doctor Who from iTunes without having to kneel to the Beast called Disney?
this is like watching a psa on how cigarettes are bad for you and immediately going on a smoke break- howd you miss it man they literally said the reason they came back was catherine tate saying she wanted to in the lockdown rewatches😂
@@dwfan91- That is a really naff comparison. In fact, it's quite offensive. NOBODY is going to get cancer or the equivalent of a smoking related disease just for a having a different opinion about the ratings. I agree that 10 million viewers is not sustainable, but for a show like Doctor Who, 5-6 should be. Whittaker's ratings continued to fall through the floor in her second and third seasons. Do the show's detractors exaggerate when talking about the ratings? Of course they do, but that doesn't mean they weren't an issue. RTD said he would only come back if the show was in trouble.
