‘Downton Abbey’ season 3: More see Dan Stevens’ [spoiler]; hope for season 4
When the ratings first came in for the “Downton Abbey” season 2 Christmas special late last month, there was almost a feeling of disappointment as the show struggled to push beyond the 7 million mark. While this was still a reasonably solid number for a holiday when not every family is into watching TV, it was down a fairly decent margin from where the show was during both season 3 as a whole and the Christmas special the year before. (Warning: the following contains spoilers for American readers.)
However, the latest numbers that have come in now prove that many of the same people were watching the show as ever; however, many of them simply chose to record it rather than watching it live. Using systems similar to DVRs, a total of 10.28 million people ended up actually watching the two-hour episode that ended with the death of Dan Stevens’ Matthew Crawley, which actually helps to shoot it up to #2 on the list of most-watched Christmas specials behind only the monster known as “EastEnders.”
What these numbers really prove to us is that many of the criticisms that came down during the Christmas special were valid. There were a good many people upset about the frequent commercials, and thanks to that they decided to shave thirty minutes off of the show’s run time by recording it. This may seem like a lot of ad space to British viewers, but here in America we’re actually used to a rate that is a little bit higher than even this.
Do you think that we are going to see the same amount of viewers actually stay on board following Matthew’s death? We’ll find out for sure when “Downton Abbey” season 4 arrives on ITV in the fall. (It premieres on PBS on Sunday night in the United States.)
If you want to read some more scoop on when “Downton Abbey” season 4 could pick back up, you can find out over here.
Photo: ITV
Emilie
January 6, 2013 @ 6:59 pm
Do not bring back that Carlysle !! That will spoil everything.
Mike
January 5, 2013 @ 5:34 am
As for me: of all the various series I have seen sofar, there are 2 or 3 series (at most) that, if at all it would be possible, would get anything beyond a 10.
I hope Downton Abbey will continue for the next ten seasons or so.
Everyone is playing his / her fantastic role.
It’s the kind of veiled way of speaking, the dignity and respect and all the wonderful dresses, we are missing these all in todays world, that form the elements of success, I guess.
DApper
January 3, 2013 @ 10:11 am
I hope Downton Abbey maintains its quality and audience. It puts me in mind of M*A*S*H, another ensemble piece that endured the loss of four major original characters over its run and still finished years later with the most watched finale ever on US television. I recall thinking the show could not possibly survive without Frank Burns or Henry Blake, or later Radar O’Reilly. (And be assured that Henry’s surprise death was as shocking and talked about as Matthew’s.) As long as the show’s universe remained constant, the writers succeeded in fitting new and interesting people and stories into it. I guess the only argument is which of our Downtonites is Hawkeye, the center of that universe. It seems it is Robert, but does that make Violet Downton’s answer to Hot Lips? :)