An online news outlet, Fiction Horizon, decried former Doctor Who fans as “angry” and claims those fans are they are openly misinterpreting viewership data.
Millie GIbson as Ruby Sunday and Ncuti Gatwa as The Doctor in Doctor Who (2024), BBC
In an article published on May 16th, titled “Angry Fans Openly Misinterpret ‘Doctor Who’ Viewership Data, Calling the Series ‘Woke’ and ‘Unwatchable,’ Despite Praise from Critics” author Arthur S. Poe attempts to justify his doubtful headline by claiming that the viewership data out of the BBC does not include numbers from Disney+.
In the article, Poe admits viewership for the first two episodes was abysmal writing, “After the first two episodes were released on BBC One, the viewership numbers were released a couple of days later, revealing that “Space Babies,” the first episode, was watched by 2.6 million viewers, with “The Devil’s Chord,” the second, having an overnight audience of 2.4 million. And while these numbers are certainly low, they are not the complete numbers, as we are about to see.”
He then attempts to claim that comparing this to previous episodes of Doctor Who to these overnight numbers from BBC One is misinterpreting the data because the show also appears on Disney+ and BBC iPlayer. Poe writes, “On the other hand, this time, the series is available both on Disney+ and BBC iPlayer, for the first time, so many people had the opportunity to watch the series on these platforms.”
Jinkx Monsoon in Doctor Who (2024), BBC
Next, Poe attempts to explain, “The numbers that were released reflect only the overnight viewers on BBC One and do not include streaming viewers, which means that they are incomplete. There is certainly a small number of fans of the series who have opted to see the episodes via these platforms, so the low ratings are only partial and do not reflect the actual numbers, which are probably going to be released later.”
He then derides former fans of the show, “This, of course, hasn’t stopped some angry fans – mostly conservatives and anti-woke crusaders – to label the series as dead.”
Ncuti Gatwa as The Doctor in Doctor Who (2024), BBC
However, the show’s overnight ratings were still abysmal even compared to the Christmas special. The BBC reported that the most recent Christmas special, which was the debut episode for Ncuti Gatwa’s 15th Doctor brought in 4.7 million in overnight numbers. In comparison, “Space Babies” had overnight viewership of 2.6 million and “The Devil’s Chord” had an overnight viewership of 2.4 million. That’s a nearly 50% decline from the Christmas special.
That is atrocious and shows viewers are indeed abandoning the show.
Millie GIbson as Ruby Sunday and Ncuti Gatwa as The Doctor in Doctor Who (2024), BBC
READ: Ironheart Hits Nielsen Charts After Three-Episode Disney+ Drop — Is Disney Gaming the System?
As far as Disney+ numbers, the show did not chart on Samba TV’s most streamed programs for the week of May 6-May 12th. The first two episodes debuted on May 11th.
The latest #SambaTVWeeklyWrap is here!
The much buzzed-about #RoastofTomBrady was #1 for the week, drawing 3.4M household views during its first week following the live airing. Could its success be a good omen for @Netflix after it announced new plans to lean further into live… pic.twitter.com/Wfw8TsipR7
— Samba TV (@samba_tv) May 17, 2024
In fact, the Christmas special did not even chart either.
The #SambaTVWeeklyWrap is here and it’s showing #Reacher locking in another week at #1! Coming up from 3rd to 2nd this week is #RebelMoon (replacing #LeaveTheWorldBehind), #PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians has notched up 2 slots from 6th to 4th, and #SoundOfFreedom landed on… pic.twitter.com/qPMPo3nj2E
— Samba TV (@samba_tv) January 5, 2024
It also did not chart on Nielsen’s streaming chart.
Nielsen streaming chart for week ending January 1st via SpoilerTV
Furthermore, the third episode has since released and its overnight numbers are even worse than the first two episodes. “Boom” only brought in 2.04 million viewers.
We also have consolidated numbers for the first two episodes, which track the show’s viewership of the week since it released. “Space Babies” only brought in 4.01 million and “The Devil’s Chord” brought in 3.91 million. Both are still lower than the overnight number for the Christmas special.
The show’s ratings are clearly disastrous and no amount spin or hatred from Fiction Horizon is going to change the truth.
Ncuti Gatwa as The Doctor and Millie Gibson as Ruby Sunday in Doctor Who (2024), BBC
What do you make of Fiction Horizon attacking former Doctor Who fans and attempting to gaslight them?
