Doctor Who writer Stephen Moffat has said the latest series of the show remains a hit, despite a fall in television audiences.
“There is no drop-off in the ratings,” he told an event in London, saying they would be the same when iPlayer views are factored in.
Saturday’s finale for Peter Capaldi’s first season attracted 5.45m viewers compared to 7.3m for his opener.
But critics have given a positive response to his performance.
The ratings, gleaned from overnight figures, will improve once catch-up viewing is taken into account, Moffat told an audience at the Royal Television Society.
He also pointed out that iPlayer viewings had “tripled” in the last few years, and said that Capaldi’s first series playing the Doctor had led to a 30% increase in viewers on BBC America in the US.
Figures compiled by BARB bear out his assertion. An extra 1.8m viewers watched the first episode of the latest series in the week following its TV debut.
But ratings did slide throughout the course of the series.
Overnight ratings, which are currently the only ones available for the series finale, show Capaldi’s season finale was seen by slightly fewer people than the 5.46m who saw the last regular episode starring Matt Smith as the Doctor.
However, Capaldi’s first season in the Tardis faced scheduling changes on BBC One, most notably a move from early evening to being shown after Strictly Come Dancing.
The sci-fi favourite also faced strong competition from The X Factor on ITV in its later timeslot.
Moffat also disclosed at the event that he has started work on the ninth season, but refused to reveal any further details.
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Source:: BBC Entertainment
