The lowest ever viewing figures, an identity crisis for the show and a confusing Billie Piper-based cliffhanger – whoever takes on the BBC fantasy drama has quite the job on their hands …
There are two important points in this article, which I feel often get overlooked in the rush of fan theorising and hot takes:
Gatwa’s run as the Time Lord, though, has seen viewing figures dip to the lowest in the show’s history – although the current streaming landscape makes it difficult to make like-for-like comparisons with previous eras. The highest figures ever obtained by Doctor Who, after all, were in the 1970s, when there were only three channels in the UK and when ITV was on strike.
and
Part of the problem remains that the BBC is unclear as to what it wants the show to be. It is a valuable franchise and a British cultural touchstone, but it lacks the global reach of Star Wars or Marvel, despite having to compete against them for attention. At the same time, the BBC still thinks it can use it on Saturday linear TV to unite a family audience that probably no longer exists. Putting the show out to tender suggests they are looking for somebody else to square those circles.
From an armchair analyst’s point of view, you just can’t make 1:1 comparisons between traditional, “appointment TV” broadcast viewing stats and on-demand, “long tail” streaming audiences. They’re not even apples and oranges.
But of course, that’s what doomers tend to pull out of their bag: “Look how poorly new episodes have done on date of broadcast in 2026, compared to that time there literally was nothing else on, and you didn’t know when you could watch it again”. Fortunately, you can just tune out those people.
It’s more worrying that the BBC still, 20+ years into the streaming era, don’t seem to have understood that “linear TV”, as well as the ritual of communal watching, are pretty much in the past. And they appear to decide the future of shows like Doctor Who on that outdated basis.
Well, if you’re buying your DVDs new, the BBC home media branch surely appreciate your patronage. Part of that money will probably find its way back to the broadcasting and production companies?
But of course, DVDs don’t count toward those vaunted viewer ratings, and that’s another thing that skews those numbers.
It’s more worrying that the BBC still, 20+ years into the streaming era, don’t seem to have understood that “linear TV”, as well as the ritual of communal watching, are pretty much in the past.
They possibly understand the landscape better than you think. BBC Three, Auntie’s channel targeted at 16-34s, closed its linear channel in 2016 as conventional wisdom was that youth audiences were shifting online-only. BBC Three became an exclusive commissioning strand on iPlayer.
Viewership however plummeted, and showcase linear broadcasts appeared late-night on BBC One from 2019, which increased viewership. In 2022 BBC Three returned as a linear channel.
There are two important points in this article, which I feel often get overlooked in the rush of fan theorising and hot takes:
and
From an armchair analyst’s point of view, you just can’t make 1:1 comparisons between traditional, “appointment TV” broadcast viewing stats and on-demand, “long tail” streaming audiences. They’re not even apples and oranges.
But of course, that’s what doomers tend to pull out of their bag: “Look how poorly new episodes have done on date of broadcast in 2026, compared to that time there literally was nothing else on, and you didn’t know when you could watch it again”. Fortunately, you can just tune out those people.
It’s more worrying that the BBC still, 20+ years into the streaming era, don’t seem to have understood that “linear TV”, as well as the ritual of communal watching, are pretty much in the past. And they appear to decide the future of shows like Doctor Who on that outdated basis.
Great points.
My family watches as a group all the time, and Doctor Who features prominently.
But my DVD purchases probably aren’t being accounted for in their stats.
Also, Disney almost certainly lied to the BBC about streaming popularity, to save on license fees or something.
Well, if you’re buying your DVDs new, the BBC home media branch surely appreciate your patronage. Part of that money will probably find its way back to the broadcasting and production companies?
But of course, DVDs don’t count toward those vaunted viewer ratings, and that’s another thing that skews those numbers.
They possibly understand the landscape better than you think. BBC Three, Auntie’s channel targeted at 16-34s, closed its linear channel in 2016 as conventional wisdom was that youth audiences were shifting online-only. BBC Three became an exclusive commissioning strand on iPlayer.
Viewership however plummeted, and showcase linear broadcasts appeared late-night on BBC One from 2019, which increased viewership. In 2022 BBC Three returned as a linear channel.
Very interesting, and I’m happy to be corrected. I’m wondering what other factors there could be to that segment opting out of an iPlayer offering?
Why vinyl? Part of it is technological contrarianism, part of it is the convenience of sticking a channel on and not having to decide what to watch.
Fair. I can definitely sympathise with the vinyl comparison.