Doctor Who is fixing its biggest mistake – but it might be too late

Doctor Who is in a tricky spot right now, and waving their sonic screwdriver around won’t save them this time.

You see, the Doctor’s facing a far deadlier enemy than a devious Dalek or a soulless Cyberman; they’ve got to battle declining viewership. 

Yes, sadly, while the reviews for the latest season have been more glowing than a regenerating Time Lord, the show isn’t pulling in the viewers like it once did. 

Last week, only 1.58 million people tuned in overnight to watch Lux, and while things were better this week (1.9 million watched the most recent episode, The Well, overnight), it’s still below the show’s average overnight viewership of around 2 million. 

Even accounting for consolidated viewing figures (which includes streaming), the show’s only getting around 3.5 million viewers, a far cry from a few years ago, where it would regularly bring in 4-6 million people. 

So what’s gone wrong? Well, as I’ve previously written, there are two main issues. The first is one of perception. 

People just don’t think the new series is very good, and while there are a few reasons for that (cough Space Babies cough), I think it’s fair to say it’s a bit unfair.

I know, Ncuti’s had some clunkers – The Devil’s Chord, Empire of Death, and Space Babies (of course) immediately spring to mind. Still, every Doctor has a stinky story or two, and for the most part, Ncuti’s run has been solid. 

Were this the only problem, then I think Doctor Who might be able to regenerate from all the bad press, but the second problem is a little more existential.

Honestly, the biggest problem is that people just don’t watch TV like they used to, and in a world full of AAA TV shows, it’s hard for Doctor Who to cut through.

There’s just so much content to watch and catch up on that if you don’t make a splash, you’re effectively dead in the water. 

Thankfully, the BBC seems to have finally realised there’s a problem and is addressing the issue.

It’s been reported (although the BBC didn’t confirm when I emailed) that the Season 15 finale isn’t going to be unceremoniously dumped on iPlayer at 8am like other episodes. 

Instead, you’re going to have to plonk your bum in front of the idiot’s lantern (sorry, couldn’t resist) at 7pm and watch it like we did in the good old days.

To make things even more exciting, the BBC has announced that the episode will be shown in UK cinemas. 

Now you might not think that’s thrilling, but as a fully paid-up TV nerd, it’s music to my ears. 

Doctor Who, after all, should be one of the crown jewels in the BBC Saturday night schedule, along with Strictly. 

It’s appointment viewing, not disposable streaming fodder. And I know that makes me sound pretentious, but you don’t see HBO dropping The Last of Us early, do you? 

No. They make people wait because they know the value of their shows and that audiences will wait for them.

The BBC, by reducing Doctor Who to something to be streamed at your convenience, has unintentionally diminished the show’s importance and prestige. 

It’s the same thing that happened to Marvel movies and other Disney projects during the pandemic.

They started releasing stuff on Premier Access, and diluted their brand’s power as people started to see these shows and movies as ‘just another thing on streaming’. 

After all, which of us hasn’t seen something exclusive to streaming and thought, ‘Oh I must watch that’ then never got round to it because, ‘it’s on streaming, it can wait.’

I’m glad, then, to see Doctor Who restored to its pride of place on a Saturday night, and I just hope it’s not too little, too late.

Unfortunately, I think this may be a difficult genie to put back in the bottle, or to use a Doctor Who metaphor, tougher than getting a Dalek mutant back in its Mark 3 Travel Machine.

The reason I’m so cynical is that audiences are quick learners, and if they’ve learned that to think of Doctor Who as a streaming show, then it’s going to be difficult (even for a Time Lord) to wind back the clock.

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing jess.austin@metro.co.uk. 

Share your views in the comments below.