Even leaning on the timey-wimey nature of things hasn’t been able to save the new season of Doctor Who from audience fatigue. In fact, the latest episode has opened to the show’s worst figures in 32 years.
Chris Chibnall’s tenure as executive producer of Who has had its ups and downs in the past two years, but it’s never been in such a low spot as it is now. While most of the criticism has been centered around the show’s newfound PC agenda, many fans mainly bash the new episodes for controversial decisions in the context of the narrative. Ultimately, this led to season 12’s premiere opening to some of the lowest figures in the show’s history. Yet, it didn’t stop there and the second and third episodes continued to nosedive, losing almost a million viewers.
Amid Chibnall’s somewhat strange claims that he doesn’t care about reviews, the fourth outing of the new season, titled “Nikola Tesla’s Night of Terror,” only managed to bring in 4.04 million viewers overnight, setting the record for the least-viewed episode of Who in 32 years.
In addition, fans continue to slam the new season on Rotten Tomatoes, with the current average audience score sitting at 13%, another all-time low for the series. Bad writing, poor acting and a “woke” approach have been cited as contributing reasons for this negative backlash.
One fan noted that the new run is missing all the charm and humor of older versions, saying:
“The new Doctor Who is a big disappointment. It’s missing all the charm and humor of the older versions. It’s far too serious, there are too many ‘companions,’ the acting is middling, the direction is amateur, and the writing is nothing original. As someone who has been watching Doctor Who for 50 years, the latest Doctor is a major disappointment. Doctor Who should be FUN! This version is not. Note: this is not Jodie Whitaker’s fault. They aren’t giving her much to work with, although I’m not sure she could handle the comic moments of the previous series.”
The Thirteenth Doctor herself, Jodie Whittaker, had previously said that Doctor Who just can’t please everyone, but if these ratings are to be trusted, the BBC will have to think of something before losing the majority of Whovians as it did in 1989, which if you recall, culminated in the cancellation of the show. Or at least, that’s what we hope, lest we lose the Gallifreyan Time Lord again.