Doctor Who: Jodie Whitaker’s last episode [spoilers]

[Umbran]

Well there’s no ads on the BBC, so ad revenue isn’t the driver here. There are on overseas markets, but my understanding is that foreign viewership is fairly niche.

Reading around a bit...
During his run, in the UK, Capaldi seemed to average a bit under 6 million viewers per episode. Early in Whitaker's run, she was pulling 7 to 8 million. For those same episodes, she got about 1.6 million viewers per episode in the US.

For comparison for US viewers, the new Quantum Leap is getting a bit over 2 million viewers per episode.

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

Well there’s no ads on the BBC, so ad revenue isn’t the driver here. There are on overseas markets, but my understanding is that foreign viewership is fairly niche.

Except that will all change with the Disney+ deal. That starts with the three Tennant specials and then continues with the new Doctor, so comparing to past performance outside the UK will be difficult, especially since I don't think Disney releases streaming numbers the way Netflix and others do. Also, Disney is working on a new lower-priced, ad-based subscription, like how Hulu is done, is addition to keeping the ad-free version. But I have no idea how that would all break down or if ads would be random or targeted for the shows they show during. I just hope the deal includes moving previous seasons/series to D+ too, because then I can get caught up on the show and see the episode this thread is about.

 

[GreyLord]

So back to the actual topic at hand -- what did people think of the episode?

I think it was the most fun of the Chibnall era. Loved the Ra Ra Rasputin scene (reminded me of Missy with Hey Mickey).

I didn't understand the forced regeneration thing, and the more I think about it, I still don't. He kept saying he was the Doctor, but he looked like the Master and had the Master's conscousness. In what way was he not the Master? He kept saying he would not ruin the Doctor's reputation, but why wouldn't people just say "Huh? You're not the Doctor, you're clearly the Master."

I loved the conversations between Tegan and Davison and Ace and McCoy. It was a clever little rehoticial device, the Doctor slapping them with those hologram things. The cliff scene with the various Doctors was cool, too, though I'm curious why no modern Doctors? A choice, or were they not available (though Tennant obviously is/was).

I got to see it (the night after I found out that it had already showed, via this thread).

Chibnall seems to be a BIG fan of the later Doctors (Doctors 6 and 7) as well as some other trivial areas of the older Doctor who.

LOTS of callbacks to them.

The forced regeneration has some references in those later doctors (but more specifically the 5th if I recall) and the doctor's origins (or hinted origins in various series).

HOWEVER, the oldest reference to this is from the 2nd Doctor and the Wargames serial.

Spoiler

In it the Doctor is punished by the Timelords with a FORCED regeneration as a punishment. We don't fully understand how it works, but he is forced to regenerate and exiled to Earth as the 3rd doctor.

In this one, it appears it is more than just the usual forced regeneration, as it is also a transference of the Master's mind into the Doctor's. It doesn't explain how it's done, but it shows the little attached glass boxes they stand in and it implies some sort of transference via that way. The only way to reverse it appears to utilize the same type of process, but using regeneration energy (a LOT of regeneration energy apparently) via the Cyber Masters regenerations to power it for the reversal.

 

[GreyLord]

I know that Tennant is extremely popular (and I liked him well enough in his time), but bringing him back as a subsequent official incarnation of the Doctor seems like a cheap ratings grab. My feelings about this are similar to Tom Baker's and Christopher Eccleston's feelings about the multiple Doctor episodes. And I think that bringing Tennant back instead of handing over the reins directly to Ncuti Gatwa does both Gatwa and the 15th Doctor a disservice.

I think it is more than that. This episode had a little over 4 million veiwers when it aired?

Tennant's era apparently had 13 million at it's peak episode?

I think BBC want's those numbers back. This is why they have Davies. If anyone can get Doctor Who back to the really high numbers, it would be him...but it still may take a miracle.

This is the power team, the team-up that will get people excited and possibly get them to all come rushing back to watch Doctor Who.

I think that's the gamble (my guess...and it IS a guess), but it's a darn powerful one. I know my interest is absolutely peaked. Previously I might have gotten to it when I got to it to watch the new Doctor Who episodes, but with Tennant and Davies, you better believe I'll be glued to trying to know when those episodes will air.

My spouse whose all time favorite doctor is Tennant, and stopped watching when the 12th doctor came about (they watched about 3 or 4 episodes and then just stopped) will be glued to trying to know the dates when this will air...not for Davies...but specifically because of Tennant.

If anything can prop Doctor who over 10 million viewers on initial airing...this may be it.

Not that it will, but it's probably the best Hail Mary possible to try to do this with.

 

[Morrus]

I think it is more than that. This episode had a little over 4 million veiwers when it aired?

Tennant's era apparently had 13 million at it's peak episode?

I think BBC want's those numbers back.

That won’t happen. Nearly all TV live viewing figures are a fraction of what they used to be in 2010 — people simply watch TV differently these days. There's more choices, tons of streamng platforms, more ways to delay viewing and watch later, a vastly more fragmented audience, it's just a different world.

It's not just Doctor Who -- lots of other shows (at least here in the UK) used to get 10+M viewers, some soaps used to get 20+M. Not any more, by a long shot.

 

[MarkB]

That won’t happen. Nearly all TV live viewing figures are a fraction of what they used to be in 2010 — people simply watch TV differently these days. There's more choices, tons of stremaing platforms, more ways to delay viewing and watch later, it's just a different world.

It's not just Doctor Who -- lots of other shows (at least here in the UK) used to get 10+M viewers, some soaps used to get 20+M. Not any more, by a long shot.

True enough. Still, even in the context of the general reduction in viewing figures, Doctor Who has lost market share compared to the heyday of its revival, and it's fair to say that the BBC are trying to bring back some of that audience.

And while bringing in David Tennant for whatever this incarnation turns out to be does do a disservice to Ncuti Gatwa, if they are able to boost the show's popularity he will at least have the advantage of being introduced to a larger audience when he does arrive.

Big "if", obviously.

 

[delericho]

I've never been much of a fan of pre-regen episodes - I find the build to the Event overshadows whatever story they're trying to tell, rendering the whole thing pointless. (Ecclestone -> Tennant being a shining exception, given how much of a surprise that was.) This was a particularly strong one, though.

I mostly enjoyed the episode, and very much enjoyed the callbacks to my era of Classic Who (came in right at the end of T Baker, lost touch after "Trial of the Time Lord", and saw some of McCoy's tenure).

Ultimately, though, my overriding feeling is of relief. This hasn't been a good era - although JW did her best, she was saddled with some terrible material. Both in terms of the stories, but also in the way she was asked to play the character. She was treated better than Colin Baker, but not by all that much, IMO. Such a shame.