Overnight ratings for the third 60th anniversary special for Doctor Who, “The Giggle” continued to see the show’s viewership ratings decline.
The Doctor (David Tennant) and Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) in Doctor Who Special Three: The Giggle
The first of the three 60th anniversary specials, “The Star Beast,” which saw the return of David Tennant as the 14th Doctor and Catherine Tate as Donna Noble bring in 5.08 million viewers in overnight numbers.
After all calculations were completed the show’s total viewership in the United Kingdom clocked in at 7.61 million.
The Meep in Doctor Who Special One: The Star Beast
The overnight ratings for the show’s second episode “Wild Blue Yonder” declined by a quarter of a million viewers or 5% to 4.83 million.
However, when final calculations were made, the second episode only brought in 6.9 million viewers. That’s a decline of over 710,000 viewers and nearly 10% from the first episode.
“The Giggle” saw its overnight ratings decline even more. The series only brought in 4.62 million viewers. That’s a decline of just over 9% from the first episode, and a 4.3% decline from the second episode.
David Tennant as the 14th Doctor and Catherine Tate as Donna Noble in Doctor Who 60th Anniversary Special 2 “Wild Blue Yonder”(2023), BBC
The series is not being received well by those who are actually watching it. On IMDb, “The Star Beast” received a 5.2 rating out of 10. “Wild Blue Yonder” has a 6.5 out of 10, and “The Giggle” currently has a 7.5 out of 10.
Overall, the series has a 6.6 out of 10 rating.
Doctor Who ratings on IMDb
The series fares even worse on Rotten Tomatoes. The show currently has a 43% average audience score.
Doctor Who ratings on Rotten Tomatoes
The series has also been lampooned by previous fans of the series. Pop culture expert and lover of old Doctor Who, Gary Buechler, the host of the YouTube channel Nerdrotic savaged “The Star Beast” episode noting it was “sacrificed on the altar of agenda” and that “the now third reboot of Doctor Who was murdered in its crib.”
It’s unlikely the series viewership will recover, but will instead continued its continued decline. In fact, showrunner Russell T. Davies announced that upcoming episodes of the show will “annoy people.”
He told Radio Times, “The show is taking a sly step towards fantasy, which will annoy people to whom it’s a hard science-fiction show.”
Davies added, “Episode two next year is wildly fantasy. Completely making up scenarios on-screen that we’ve never been able to show before. But the following episode is proper hard science-fiction.”
Neil Patrick Harris as The Toymaker in Doctor Who 60th Anniversary Special “The Giggle” (2023), BBC
Not only did Davies explain that the show’s direction will “annoy people,” but he also informed Doctor Who Magazine as reported by SFF Gazette that he’s creating a whole new Doctor Who mythology.
Davies explained, “There will be controversial events in [‘The Giggle’]. If you listen and watch the commentary on the iPlayer, I unroll a whole new Doctor Who mythology for you, based around the events taking place. And I’m explaining this to David Tennant and his mind is exploding.”
“That commentary will have absolutely exclusive information that will rock the world. I hope you’ll all find it fascinating,” Davies continued. “It’s a whole new way of looking at the history of Doctor Who and I can’t wait to see the reaction.”
Ncuti Gatwa as the 15th Doctor in Doctor Who 60th Anniversary Special “The Giggle” (2023), BBC
What do you make of Doctor Who ratings continuing to decline?
That’s a good start, but still too many people watch this propaganda garbage. The audience must now consist of culture junkies who cannot control their addiction and leftists who like this subversive garbage.
Have you considered how many fans don’t have Disney+? I know at least 10 fans that can no longer watch the show because it’s not on bbc America. I enjoyed all three. Yes the first went a little overboard but it did serve the story line. I didn’t like the Jodi Whitaker ones at all. I’m looking forward to this new series.
Can’t wait to see how this further declines.
Great misinformation garbage being posted here. You posted the ratings for doctor who unleashed, not the actual episodes. Which have fantastic ratings by the way, despite mindless negative reviews who cry at the appearance of a trans person. Also I’d argue a viewership drop of less than 10% over three weeks is fantastic and shows the strength of the episodes. Typical twisting of facts to support your bigoted agenda. Try reporting the truth next time.
I’ve never heard of a show dropping in popularity in less than a month and that being called “strength”. Interesting.
Ahh the old “If they didn’t like it they must be bigots!” argument. Have you actually tried listening to the people who criticize the 60th? I absolutely despised this new run on the Doctor, FAR too heavy handed with messaging.