Not a surprise and certainly expected, the Doctor Who ratings have dropped with the release of the second special, “Wild Blue Yonder,” marking a new David Tennant low.
The episode saw 4.83 million viewers tune in.
Last week’s episode, “The Star Beast,” saw 5.08 million viewers.
The drop is only about 5%, but it’s still a drop nonetheless, and not a good sign when the ratings are already a lot lower compared to the David Tennant and Russell T Davies earlier years which managed 10 million or more viewers at times.
More fans didn’t tune in for the second special after watching the return of Tennant, and some fans who watched the first special didn’t bother returning.
Normally the trend continues, so that could mean Tennant’s last episode could see even fewer viewers; however, it is his last episode, so it could very well see a bump. It will be quite revealing if more viewers don’t show up I would think.
This also doesn’t spell good news for Ncuti Gatwa. If fans aren’t tuning in to see the most popular version of the Timelord, are they going to show up for the new Timelord Ncuti Gatwa? Time will tell.
What happened?
What happened is pretty obvious.
Doctor Who suffered big time under Chris Chibnall and Jodie Whittaker which turned fans off the franchise. Coupled with sending a message and the poor quality of story, fans stopped watching, much like with Disney’s Star Wars and now Marvel.
Ironically, following Whittaker regenerating into the Tennant Doctor and with the return of Davies, many fans thought the series would switch gears and return to quality story without all the politics.
However, Davies doubled down and has actually gone even further, an obvious slap in the face and disregard for Who fans as he mocks them.
Russell T Davies mocks fans
“The Star Beast” sees a trans teen lecture the thousand-year-old Timelord about pronouns and of course, because the Timelord is a man, he’s made to look bad.
In “Wild Blue Yonder,” Davies race swaps historical figure Isaac Newton (are they going to race swap Ghandi and Mother Theresa?) and makes the David Tennant Doctor gay and says he always has been even though he fell in love with Rose Tyler and marries River Song. Donna also questions the gender of an alien about pronouns.
It’s obvious that, much like Chibnall, Davies is not focused on the story but sending a message. The episode also references Chibnall’s “The Flux” and “The Timeless Child,” as the Flux is mentioned destroying the universe and the Doctor says he doesn’t know where he is from.
As we’ve seen with the Chibnall and Whittaker era and the aforementioned Disney Star Wars and Marvel, lecturing fans, mocking fans, and sending a message never works out. The question is, does Russell T Davies even care?
