Why Doctor Who’s mixed fortunes aren’t actually mixed
Good grief, The Guardian. Last week, you reported:
Doctor Who has faced many fearsome foes in the past, but none of them have been a Bolton-born TV presenter who yells “Our survey says”.
This was on the back of the show’s plummeting audience share, which saw it beaten by All Star Family Fortunes, to which The Guardian suggested:
The current series of Doctor Who – the second overseen by showrunner Steven Moffat – has faced criticism that it is too scary and too complicated for younger fans.
To be fair, The Guardian isn’t alone. Lots of publications are saying Doctor Who is screwed, largely because Moffat has the audacity to create plots that make you think a bit, that hold up brilliantly to rewatching (so you can figure out what you missed), and that have an intelligence and horror that was largely lacking in the (still pretty good) Russell T Davies era.
Only it’s not quite that simple. Tom Spilsbury reports that ratings are far more complicated than they used to be, and Who performs extremely well on the BBC Three repeat, recordings and iPlayer. The linked post shows that the current series is up on the first three series, and down only slightly on the 2008 run. Spilsbury says the following on this (WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR SERIES FOUR):
This can partially be put down to the final half of the series which concluded with Journey’s End, the return of Rose, the return of Davros, the fake regeneration, etc. Journey’s End was the top rated show of the week, and amassed almost 15 million viewers across all outlets, so this really gave a boost to the series average.
So what does The Guardian run with this week? Doctor Who’s mixed fortunes continue, which at least notes that the statistical reversal of All Star Family Fortunes ‘winning’ the ratings war again will be “shortlived”. So, not really mixed fortunes at all then, unless you consider it to be ‘mixed fortunes’ when your favourite football team goes to half-time a goal down, but then ends up winning two-one.
The current series of Dr Who is more scary. That’s true.
But the elliptical storyline is paying off in spades.
ITV has a duty to the shareholders and the advertisers to produce the cheapest, lowest common denominator telly it can. especially for that time slot.
No one is going to watch family fortunes on catch up. No one will buy a family fortunes lunch box, magazine, toy or anything like that.
You’re right. there’s a much larger picture to consider.
I’m watching Inside The Actor’s Studio with Jason Bateman. Talking about Arrested Development, he mentions how the ratings for the show on DVR were very high, frequently in the top three for most watched show. But this wasn’t tracked, and it was a show with a reputation for being clever-clever, so beating Desperate Housewives (at its peak) in DVR ratings wasn’t a factor.
This reminded me instantly of the situation with Doctor Who. Personally, I’ve not enjoyed the current series much, not nearly as much as the previous Moffat series, or the one with Catherine Tate (which I thought was superb). I haven’t found anything as scary as ‘Blink’ or ‘Midnight’ or bits of ‘Forest of the Dead’; I just haven’t enjoyed Amy and Roy on-screen. There was some kind of ‘OMG SHE IS GOING TO BE THE BEST COMPANION EVER LOOK HOW HOT SHE IS’ consensus before the Moffat era even began.
This wouldn’t be a problem if the stories were as good but either they aren’t or, I dunno, I’m becoming jaded or something. So for that reason, I have to say, I find the ‘fortunes’ of Dr.Who currently rather mixed. As a viewer.
Do I think there are less viewers? No. Do I think the bloom has come off the rose? No. If shrunken Jesus Tennant Who and the consistent godawfulness of Torchwood didn’t already do that, I certainly don’t think the slightly different style of Moffat’s Who will do it.
If nothing else, I thought Matt Smith’s first Xmas Who was the best Xmas Who so far. I only realised much later… of course, the COUPLE WHO WE MUST BE REMINDED ARE A COUPLE REMEMBER A COUPLE weren’t in.
Hopefully, they’ll not be back full-time. After all, now that Amy’s womb has provided a deus ex machina fix for the matter of The Doctor running out of regenerations, they can fuck off for all I care, and I see the series instantly improving.
(written having not yet seen the most recent episode because FUCKING JAMES CORDEN was in it)