Analysing Doctor Who Viewers

It is no secret that Doctor Who viewers are going down. There are two groups of fans mainly in terms of their reaction to this. Some fans seem to think that the show is in danger of being axed and others seem to think that the show is just as popular as it used to be and its just there way that the show is viewed that has changed, causing the supposed decrease. My opinion is that Doctor Who is in no danger of being axed. It is the BBC's biggest money bringer so they would be foolish to axe it. Also Doctor Who is still staying inside the top 30 programmes with many episodes remaining in the top 10 and topping Saturday night showing. However to say that the show is as popular as it used to be is silly. There is no chance that the show is as popular as it used to be. Let's take a look at the series averages over the past 36 series of Doctor Who.

Ranking 

1. Season 17 = 11.22 - Tom Baker
2. Season 14 = 11.17 - Tom Baker
3. Season 2 = 10.38 - William Hartnell
4. Season 13 = 10.18 - Tom Baker
5. Season 12 = 10.14 - Tom Baker
6. Season 19 = 9.30 - Peter Davison
7. Season 10 = 8.98 - Jon Pertwee
8. Season 15 = 8.91 - Tom Baker
9. Season 16 = 8.56  - Tom Baker
10. Season 9 = 8.48 - Jon Pertwee
11. Season 21 = 8.37 - Peter Davison
12. Season 1 = 7.96 - William Hartnell
13. Season 8 = 7.96 - Jon Pertwee
14. Season 11 = 8.78 - Jon Pertwee
15. Series 4 = 8.04 - David Tennant
16. Series 5 = 7.73 - Matt Smith
17. Series 2 = 7.64 - David Tennant
18. Series 3 = 7.54  - David Tennant
19. Series 6 = 7.51 - Matt Smith
20. Series 7 = 7.44 - Matt Smith
21. Series 8  = 7.40 - Peter Capaldi
22. Season 3 = 7.38 - William Hartnell
23. Series 1 = 7.31 - Christopher Eccleston
24. Season 22 = 7.17 - Colin Baker
25. Season 7 = 7.14 - Jon Pertwee
26. Season 4 = 7.11 - Patrick Troughton
27. Season 20 = 7.00 - Peter Davison
28. Season 5 = 6.63 - Patrick Troughton
29. Season 6 = 6.57 - Patrick Troughton
30. Series 9 = 6.17 - Peter Capaldi
31. Season 18 = 5.81 - Tom Baker
32. Series 10 = 5.45 - Peter Capaldi
33. Season 25 = 5.35 - Sylvester McCoy
34. Season 24 = 4.98 - Sylvester McCoy
35. Season 23 = 4.83 - Colin Baker
36. Season 26 = 4.19 - Sylvester McCoy

Series 10 is the 32nd most watched DW series and the lowest of the modern era. Sylvester McCoy's three series and Colin Baker's last are the only series to be lower than him.

If we look at the three modern Doctors with three seasons.

David Tennant:
17
18
15

Matt Smith:
16
19
20

Peter Capaldi:
21
30
32

So there has been a considerable drop in Series 9. Series 4 is the highest viewed series of the modern era.

The Beaks of the Show

Season 1
Season 12-14
Season 17
Series 2-4

The original programme Tom Baker and David Tennant are the most favoured series.