Did Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor Who debut lead to big ratings?
Here’s the funny thing about that — remember all of those people who were threatening to not watch over the new Doctor being a woman, and then all of the other people claiming that they were going to start watching for the first time? It feels, in retrospect, like a whole lot of that was just internet bluster.
The special in total was watched by 5.7 million viewers in the UK, which is, for the record, even with the Christmas Special of Doctor Who back in 2016. This was down slightly from the Doctor Who Christmas Special ratings back in 2015. The big takeaway from all of this is rather clear: It really doesn’t matter all that much who is the star of Doctor Who or who is becoming the star. The same number of people are going to watch either way. We don’t think all of the people threatening to not watch over sexism/what have you are actually going to stick with it, just as we don’t think some of the people who claimed that they would start watching actually will. Doctor Who has its audience and it seems to stick with the show thick and then.
The one thing that could really swing the pendulum one way or another in the new year is probably the quality of the story that we end up seeing. If Doctor Who season 11 emerges as one of the greatest seasons in the history of the franchise, there’s a good chance that more viewers will pick it up. Meanwhile, if it’s terrible viewers will probably run away in droves. Too much is often made about demographics or so-called controversial topics with shows like this; in the end, it’s really just about quality. If you’ve got a fantastic product and are promoting it effectively, viewers will find a way to watch.
More notable ratings topics
EastEnders and Call the Midwife tied for third place on Christmas with 6.3 million viewers watching each one of their Christmas Specials. Meanwhile, the big winner of the night overall was Mrs. Brown’s Boys, which ended up drawing as a whole 6.8 million viewers. Meanwhile, Strictly Come Dancing ended up placing in second with 6.5 million.
Technically, the Queen’s annual address to the nation received more total viewers as a whole, but you had to add up all countries to get to that point.
What do you think about the ratings for Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor Who debut? Be sure to share now in the comments below!
Meanwhile, be sure to head over to the link here in the event you want to read our full review of the special; meanwhile, like CarterMatt on Facebook in the event you want some additional insight on Doctor Who right now. (Photo: BBC.)