Doctor Who: The Big Bang finale figures
Jul. 8th, 2010 11:26 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rabid1stNever have I felt so bad about being right about something. SIGH!
"Journey's End" was watched by 10.57 million viewers when broadcast on BBC1, giving it a 45.9% share of the total television audience. The episode was the most-viewed program of the week. The final numbers for The Big Bang, the ninth most watched show of the week, are 6.12 million. The Pandorica Opens drew 7.57 in the finale numbers. This means that after people watched Part 1, they simply gave up on Part 2. Over 1.4 million people opted out of watching the story conclusion. This is unprecedented in New Who history and goes a long way to explaining the BBC News report admitting to the ratings slide just after The Big Bang. I don't think this bodes well for Christmas.
On the other hand, that will be a captive audience and Moff is good at doing one off episodes. I wonder if it was the big set pieces that put people off The Big Bang? Did it reach too high? Did the audience simply feel there was no hope for a satisfying resolution? For me, I think the main problem continues to be the hollowness of it all. The lack of true dramatic tension that is born out of "The Doctor is beyond suffering. Always amazing. Always cool. Always triumphant." I really didn't feel anything close to what I was obviously expected to feel during The Pandorica Opens, because I felt nothing for the players who seemed to feel nothing for one another.
SPOILERS: Amy died. Meh! I figured she would be back next episode, because that's how the wibbly-wobbly works. The Doctor is locked up in slow motion...whatever. He was in no real danger in my mind. It wasn't like Doomsday or Journey's End where he is crushed emotionally, at least. Despite the overly dramatic slo-mo this is only a slight blow to his ego. Anyone paying attention during the earlier episodes knows that he's flitting through time somehow. River is in trouble. I want her to die but I know she won't because she's timey-wimey, too...and inside the TARDIS. It was all just this exercise in extravagant futility, sound and fury signifying nothing. A good puzzle in the end, yes, and I, personally, got enough loopholes to save Ten and Rose. But beyond that...well...there's just the CGI. That was some pretty good CGI.
BTW, several fansites have claimed that the BBC America numbers are GREAT. I can find no evidence of this. I only find that the season opened to the best audience ever on BBC America. And I still believe that was because we had a real ad push on the episode, coupled with David's finale few episodes going up and up and finally...of course...the media blitz about regime change. But did the audience stay once the hoopla died away? I can find no evidence that it did and would be interested in any articles or info about the BBC America numbers.
Rae
"Journey's End" was watched by 10.57 million viewers when broadcast on BBC1, giving it a 45.9% share of the total television audience. The episode was the most-viewed program of the week. The final numbers for The Big Bang, the ninth most watched show of the week, are 6.12 million. The Pandorica Opens drew 7.57 in the finale numbers. This means that after people watched Part 1, they simply gave up on Part 2. Over 1.4 million people opted out of watching the story conclusion. This is unprecedented in New Who history and goes a long way to explaining the BBC News report admitting to the ratings slide just after The Big Bang. I don't think this bodes well for Christmas.
On the other hand, that will be a captive audience and Moff is good at doing one off episodes. I wonder if it was the big set pieces that put people off The Big Bang? Did it reach too high? Did the audience simply feel there was no hope for a satisfying resolution? For me, I think the main problem continues to be the hollowness of it all. The lack of true dramatic tension that is born out of "The Doctor is beyond suffering. Always amazing. Always cool. Always triumphant." I really didn't feel anything close to what I was obviously expected to feel during The Pandorica Opens, because I felt nothing for the players who seemed to feel nothing for one another.
SPOILERS: Amy died. Meh! I figured she would be back next episode, because that's how the wibbly-wobbly works. The Doctor is locked up in slow motion...whatever. He was in no real danger in my mind. It wasn't like Doomsday or Journey's End where he is crushed emotionally, at least. Despite the overly dramatic slo-mo this is only a slight blow to his ego. Anyone paying attention during the earlier episodes knows that he's flitting through time somehow. River is in trouble. I want her to die but I know she won't because she's timey-wimey, too...and inside the TARDIS. It was all just this exercise in extravagant futility, sound and fury signifying nothing. A good puzzle in the end, yes, and I, personally, got enough loopholes to save Ten and Rose. But beyond that...well...there's just the CGI. That was some pretty good CGI.
BTW, several fansites have claimed that the BBC America numbers are GREAT. I can find no evidence of this. I only find that the season opened to the best audience ever on BBC America. And I still believe that was because we had a real ad push on the episode, coupled with David's finale few episodes going up and up and finally...of course...the media blitz about regime change. But did the audience stay once the hoopla died away? I can find no evidence that it did and would be interested in any articles or info about the BBC America numbers.
Rae