We Needed A Pony--Doctor Who Ratings

[rabid1st]

So, there's been fine weather in England before this. There's been a steady decline in the people willing to watch Part 1 of a 2 Part episode in real time as well. And I'm sure that when the numbers all come in a lot of people will have managed to get the BARB figures up by watching Doctor Who on TIVO or whatever. But the fact remains, it is no longer MUST SEE TV for the 10 Million who used to watch. And the main reason isn't Moffett or Matt...or even Amy. The main reason is that the Doctor didn't step up and do right by Rose.

Even for those people who hated Rose, the not finishing her story, killed it. The not stepping up, proved that the show wasn't going anywhere. The Doctor isn't a hero, he's a blowhard. He's a storm in a teacup...all talk and no action...and really...it doesn't matter if we show up or not, care if the companion is kidnapped or not...worry about him, love him, whatever.

None of it really matters to us anymore. We can catch it later and the Doctor will still be doing the same damned thing he's always done.

The Hungry Earth was watched by 4.5 million viewers according to unofficial overnight figures.

The glorious weather across the UK on Saturday saw the series fall to the lowest overnight total since the series returned in 2005. 4.24 million watched on BBC One with an additional 0.30 million watching on BBC HD.

Even if whatever is happening is entertaining, it's not compelling anyone to watch.

Rae
who really, truly hates being right about this one.

Comments

[bastetseye.livejournal.com]

The glorious weather across the UK on Saturday saw the series fall to the lowest overnight total since the series returned in 2005. 4.24 million watched on BBC One with an additional 0.30 million watching on BBC HD.

LOL! That's right the weather is to blame for the low ratings! Cause during the other seasons we were all freezing our asses off!

[auntiesuze.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure that I buy that the ratings decline is due to what did or didn't happen with Rose. I think the majority of viewers didn't tie their love of the show that closely to that storyline (I mean, look at me, I'm all about Rose/Doctor, but I'm still watching!).

There's a whole lot of things that just don't seem to be working (yet?) for this new series. Too many comparisons between Ten and Eleven; Eleven not always being particularly likable (which is a tough sell after one of the most beloved Doctors in history); inconsistent/ill-defined/mismanaged writing; a wishy-washy companion; too many changes, too quickly; etc., etc.

Add to that the folks who weren't too thrilled by the ending of the last series and, yes, stuff like weather, and it's a recipe for poor ratings.

I do agree that I just don't feel as compelled to watch as I did during the Eccleston/Tennant era. I mean, with them, I downloaded the newest episode as quickly as possible and immediately devoured it. Now...eh, I download it and send it over to my TiVo and usually watch it the next day, but I'm not *driven* to. I really just don't care that much about this new Doctor and his companion(s).

Maybe it'll pick up. I dunno. I remember having vaguely similar feelings when Four became Five. But at least the companions, the TARDIS, etc. all stayed the same and helped ease the transition. And Five soon showed to be awesome in his own right and life went on from there.

I still see potential in this series, but it doesn't seem to be evolving beyond that. Looking back at the first episodes of the new series, by this point, we'd already had powerhouse episodes like "Dalek" and "Father's Day" which showed us who these characters were, gave us a decent look at their depth, what they loved, what tortured them, etc. We just haven't gotten that yet with this new series. I keep seeing flashes, moments that show what this series could be...but then it fizzles out again.

You know what I also noticed? The Moff has seriously cleaned house behind the scenes, too. Though some of the writers are back, NONE of the directors from the previous seasons were used. That makes me a tad nervous. I can't really say why, except that it once again reinforces his desire to completely obliterate everything that went before.

[rabid1st.livejournal.com]

Oh, no! It's not that people cared about Rose. Or that those of us who did are not watching. I'm still watching. Or I was until this one. This one, I...and many others it appears...decided not to bother with until Part 2 was ready.

No, what I mean, is that not finishing the story killed the show. Because it doesn't allow us to RESTART in the fashion that Moffat has restarted. We cannot divorce ourselves from the expectation that the Doctor we saw on that beach...is the Doctor we have with us now. And he is no longer compelling. Yes, a large part of that is the writing and the directing...but those things would not matter if the previous story had gone somewhere.

The potential you see...will not manifest, I'm afraid. Because the potential cannot manifest beyond flashes. You cannot have a show where nothing fundamentally changes, a show based on telling the same story over and over again...remove the emotional heart of the story...and still have compelling viewing.

It is not that it was ROSE that was important...that was sort of what I kept saying to all the people who are still watching, but were anti-Rose and therefore did not want the story finished properly. It's that the story either lives up to its potential...or it doesn't. It didn't. And you can't gloss over that with everything happy and new.

Moff is trying to obliterate the past, while clinging to it with River and the Daleks and all of his meta points about companions made via Amy. Look how she's not Rose...are we all happy now? No, because Rose should be over and done with...and we shouldn't be thinking...as someone working on Amy's Choice obviously was thinking...that the Doctor is a dirty old man who likes sweet young girls but not when they grow up too much. The past is a weight around the neck of this show...and it will finish it off...without anyone realizing why.

Rae
blaming Moff for casting Karen and for writing to the audience and for being more style than substance and having no emotional depth to translate to the screen...but blaming RTD for finishing off the show.

[sensiblecat.livejournal.com]

What breaks my heart is that RTD was so close to getting it right, and I still can't figure out why he didn't (unless he did a deal with Moff that he wouldn't end it that way, and I think that's unlikely). I think he just lost interest. We don't hear a lot of him now, do we?

The finales of Lost and Ashes have shown this week how hard it is to end things gracefully on TV. Most shows outstay their natural narrative span and get sillier and less convincing as they do so. Lost got so bogged down in its own mythology that it could only finish by negating all that had gone before. And, though I love Gene Hunt to bits, Ashes was a flawed conception from the beginning, because LoM had a perfect ending, leaving the viewer completely satisfied emotionally. For DW to have done that would have taken a miracle. It's sad that it came so close and then bottled out.

[rabid1st.livejournal.com]

Ah, I see I need not bother going over this again. As you have already read to the point. To me, it would have been heartbreaking of course to have had the Doctor get over Rose and leave her happily with the clone...or at least...resolutely with the clone. But to have the story say that the Doctor is this emotional basket case...and then...have him go back to being the Old School devil-may-care character (as he must do)...was more than just me not getting my way or whatever.

That's what storytellers should know...how a story is going to go on or linger in the minds and hearts of the audience. Not just for the service to that story. Supernatural ends in a way that is not happy at all...yet it is completely true to the entire narrative and as such...beautiful. They are going to go on telling stories without the creative force behind the story now. Sure, the stories will not be as good. But I and most of the other fans, I think, will go on watching...because they had the good sense to just FACE the music and END their tale.

I admire that hack Kripke more than RTD or Moff or Joss Whedon or any of the other more gifted wordsmiths out there in TV Land...simply because Kripke said..."This is the story I am telling...and THIS is how it ends." And he ended it...and walked away from the network with his head high. Sure, people wept and tore their garments and went, oh, this is heartbreaking. But we all knew that it was RIGHT as well.

We also believe that nothing that comes after will be nearly as emotional satisfying...and we know that network people are asshats for trying to milk the show's popularity for another two years. But, we will go on watching, because we got a great story and that is what lingers in the mind. A great story was told. I won't watch anything by Joss Whedon...I doubt I will watch anything by RTD...but Kripke has me at Hello. Not because he's anywhere near as creative or brilliantly inspired as RTD or Joss...but because...he's got storytelling fiber...BALLS as it were.

Rae

[mrs_roy.livejournal.com]

What's that old addage, Fool me once, fool me twice. JE - We gave that one to RTD, TEoT2, we all threw our arms up in dismay, so really, it stands to reason that the majority would just pack it in when it came to 11.

I feel bad for poor Matt Smith, but I just don't feel that he's captured the Doctor and put him on a pedastal for all to see. I just don't see how Tennant went from Hero to Zero, though I suspect it's a whole bunch of marketing crap more than anything.

I gave 11 a chance, but Amy grates on my nerves, she is, for lack of better words, worse than Donna, IMO. At least Donna had some substance, not that I hate Donna. It's so hard not to compare them to Rose considering the way Ten and Rose were, so clearly in love.

*Shrugs*

(I'm not sure that even made sense, I'm in a little bit of pain right now XD)

[sunnytyler001.livejournal.com]

I still watch DW... but my heart is not there anymore ( it is in Pete's world, safe from evilwizard!Moffat & his plastic toys of DOOM).
Lol. Maybe Moffat thinks River/Doctor is the "pony" of his era.... :S

[rabid1st.livejournal.com]

Maybe Moffat thinks River/Doctor is the "pony" of his era.... :S


I'm sure he's trying hard to make it so. But since we know how River's story ends...it is hard to get behind her as a epic-romance. Of course, I do expect him to rescue her from the computer at some point if things get desperate. You see, once the BBC bosses get their heads around the ratings falling...they will demand more romance with the companion. Thinking that is the key to it all. It isn't.

I know that the key to it all...was finishing up the Rose/Ten story properly. Five years of mooning after Rose ends with a "I don't want to go" and a "Aren't we all [making do]?" and then we are expected to hop onboard for another grand adventure with the happy-go-lucky Doctor. No! People will lose interest...because the story went nowhere before and looks to be going nowhere again...because there is no connection to what went before...so...?

The people who wanted Rose put down...wanted her clearly put down...but that didn't happen. We wanted a Pony and we got socks. And you can't just tell us that we are going to get something so much better than a pony the NEXT time. Because you can't recapture that moment anyway...and because Moff and his crew don't have one tenth the talent that RTD and his crew had.

Rae

[gwendolynflight.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that about sums it up. You can't resurrect a series one way, and expect to get the same audience with a whole new genre - which is where I think the 11th Doctor has gone. It's not the same show, hasn't been since Donna left. The problem is that unwillingness to change, which is insane since the success of the new program was based on change. You need to continue making big changes to your canon if you start out with big changes being the foundational strength of the new series. Have the balls to really bring back the Time Lords as the new villains if that's your idea, don't do it for 5 minutes and banish them again. Have the DoctorDonna running around if that's your idea, don't go the amnesia route! Leave Rose lost in another dimension, none of this wishy-washy back and forth, Rose is back/no she's not bullshit. Have the courage of your convictions! And the specials only made this worse, and the 11th Doctor ... He's trying to ride the back of all those big changes and almost-changes and emotional turmoil but, as others have said, with the emotional maturity of a 9 year old. Which is fine, but again, a very different show.

And when did he become a storm in a teacup? Damn, used to be, when the Doctor got all threatening, somebody died. Now it's like, oh, he's ranting again. ::sigh:: Nothing ever comes of it.

And in re last week's episode, when is he ever going to learn to stop promising things?!?!?! ::headdesk::

I'm mostly frustrated by this new series, and a bit bored. Like Amy fine, but she doesn't have much to do. Like Rory, but same problem. Only okay with the Doctor, and he doesn't have much to do either. ::sigh::

Also, why did we get Sleestak? What the hell?

[rabid1st.livejournal.com]

There you go. That's it exactly. It isn't about ROSE. It is about how they wouldn't COMMIT to Rose and, yet, they brought her back and had the Doctor obviously wanting to be with her. It is how they create the DoctorDonna but give them nothing to do.

Why couldn't THEY have done all of the destructive things that Ten did? Thus illustrating quite well that the Doctor would need to return from his vacation in Pete's World. Thus illustrating, quite well, why the Doctor is irreplacable and important. Thus giving us a truly epic reason for Donna to be given amnesia if such was to be her fate in the end...because she was linked to Ten2 and he had to go.

And yes, while I rail against Amy...she's no worse than any Pre-2005 companion. She's several jumps ahead of many of them, truthfully. But the entire series is pointless now. What do we care if Amy loves the Doctor or he loves her? Nothing will change...because the show is fundamentally afraid to change even with the most heroic of companion/Doctor relationships...one that took 4 years of carefully episodic cultivation. Something Moff is certainly not doing with Amy/Eleven. He's cultivating nothing but an extremely boring plot arc.

Yes, yes, the Pandorican will open and Time or the Universes or Life as we know it will end...and then it will all start over again with a new set of people we are supposed to just love to bits.

And I don't know about the Sleestak...but that's funny! Because, you are completely on the nose about them. I did wonder if they bothered to explain the evolution of the species at all.

Rae

[asahifirsa.livejournal.com]

It's technically top, but it lacks heart, simply as that. As many others said (there's a huge thread about it on GB forums) it's simply lacking. Something just doesn't click. I don't think it's Matt's fault as I do like his Doctor, even when he's unlikeable. It just seems so two-dimensional now...

[rabid1st.livejournal.com]

It is two dimensional! Because we have admitted that the Doctor isn't a being with deeper feeling for anything much. He's a shallow figure and his relationships are hallow and ultimately he must just go cheerfully onward. RTD had us all hoping until the end. Now there is no hope for anyone...there is just this idle hour...and if you miss it...you've missed nothing.

I, too, find Matt likable. But he's not compelling and I can't care very much about him...and, let's face it, the stories were not the important part of the show for me. They were always a vehicle for knowing the Doctor better. Matt and Amy keep everything at a distance with their empty-headed patter and cute adventures. Yes, the universe is in peril...but Rose is no longer lost...she's just abandoned and/or having a great arranged marriage...and Amy will have some life, too. And the old man will seek the company of the young. But I don't see why I should waste anymore of my time him, is the thing.

Running for the sake of running away...gets old no matter how cute the banter or fun the adventures.

Rae

[asahifirsa.livejournal.com]

At least for me the problem is not about how it ended with Rose, because there was plenty of feeling in the Doctor up to the very last moment of his regeneration.

Only as you said, the new Doctors relationships are shallow. Except maybe the one with tiny Amelia, somehow that one clicked. And I'm starting to feel something between him and Rory. But Amy...? For River Song it seemed to be mostly annoyance and maybe a bit of WTF. He's also lacking emotion when dealing with humans. He was extremely angry when he thought he had to kill the space whale, but he never seemed to show as much emotion when someone died... I don't think RTD is to blame for this, I think it's completely up to the new team. I still hope we'll get some kind of reason for this by the end of the series...

But yes, it's only a series now, not "the" series. I doubt I'll buy the DVDs of that one.

[onlyoot.livejournal.com]

I think the fact that the last episode was so BORING (The Hungry Earth), didnt help matters.

[rabid1st.livejournal.com]

You might have a point, Oot! But there wasn't a lot of people turning the episode off...just not watching. I think the previous episode might have bored a few people. I enjoyed Amy's Choice but it was rather a tempest in a tea pot...because really...we don't have much of an investment in this team. To be fair...at this point in S1 we weren't THAT invested...and we had been given loads more reason to be invested. But if they had tried to give us Doomsday at episode...what is this...6? I don't know that we would have cared. Instead they gave us another reason to relate to Rose with Father's Day...if we had learned something deeper about Amy or the Doctor...maybe we would be more interested in this next episode.

Though, for all of the geek-squeaking about Silurians...I must say I wasn't very impressed with them in Old School...so I didn't care what they did this time out. I do think that it being a Part 1 was part of the problem though. This has been plaguing the show all along...a tendency to just blow off part one of a two parter.

Rae

[sensiblecat.livejournal.com]

Hmm - I seem to remember it being sunny the night The Satan Pit was on.

I missed DW last week for the first time since Love and Monsters. Okay, I was on a train coming home from London but the kids told me they'd turned off before the end. That and the fact it was Chibnall got in the way of my catching up later.

I'm not sure it's all about Rose. I think the problem is that it's a fan-pleasing series rather than a crowd-pleaser. Classic fandom, that is, forgetting how small it really is in the general scheme of things. After eight episodes I'm still struggling to relate to Eleven and Amy. I think that's what it all boils down to. They tick the fannish boxes but they don't catch my attention as people.

[rabid1st.livejournal.com]

Well, yes! There is that! But what I mean is this...RTD didn't set out to just FAN PLEASE. He brought new people into the fold...probably about 5 million of them. Some of those people hated Rose...and loved Martha...but I think most of those people bought in to the idea of EMO Doctor. And Emo Doctor is gone. He would be gone in any case...yes, I agree. But if we had something like a break from EMO Doctor...say...four episodes with Ten2/Donna...for example. Then, we came back to this happy go lucky fellow...well...it wouldn't matter so much.

People would stop watching...eventually. But they wouldn't have this horrible sense of disconnect with the Doctor that was whining and throwing himself about.

I do agree with you about the Old School fans being a small part of the general scheme of things. But I do think that RTD trying to have his EMO cake and then leave it in another universe, too, allowed the casual fan to create false hopes for the Doctor as a character. That is...the Emo people were thinking he would go on being that lonely god figure that RTD created in his head...always on the brink of true love or something...and instead...we have a true reboot back to Old School fan service.

Rae

[sensiblecat.livejournal.com]

Yes - and it won't wash. Some of it is snobbery - RTD opened it up in soap-opera style and the old cult fans felt threatened by that. And some was gender politics. Both squicks coalesced in the working-class and very feminine Rose, hence the abuse heaped upon her.

I don't, personally, enjoy soap operas on the whole, but I recognise that they are excellent practice for writers, filled with characters that people clearly relate to and storylines that hook them in. My main beef about them, the British ones at any rate, is that they tend to become downbeat after a while, and that transferred to RTD's Doctor Who.