Jodi Whittaker’s Doctor Who premiere pulls in big numbers

Jodi Whittaker is the first woman to play the titular Doctor on Doctor Who, a show that’s been running in some form or another since 1963. She made her debut last night on BBC One, in the Doctor Who season 11 premiere: “The Woman Who Fell to Earth.” This episode is also the first featuring Chris Chibnall behind the camera as head writer, a job he inherited from Steven Moffat.

So there was a lot riding on this premiere. How did it do?

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According to Variety, very well! “The Woman Who Fell to Earth” had an average of 8.2 million viewers, or about 40.1% of the people watching TV in the UK at the time. For comparison’s sake, Whittaker’s predecessor Peter Capaldi earned 6.8 million views for his Doctor Who debut, while Matt Smith before him grabbed 7.7 million. David Tennant, who’s performance as the Doctor is arguably the most iconic one since the show’s revival in 2005, nabbed 9.4 million, although that was for a Christmas special, which tend to do better in general. All told, “The Woman Who Fell to Earth” was the most-watched “normal” episode of the show in a decade, since 2008’s “Journey’s End.”

So the new Doctor Who is off to a strong start. And it looks like things may only get better, based on the BBC’s guest star reel for the rest of the season. Mark Addy, King Robert Baratheon himself, will show up at some point, which can only be a good thing:

Alan Cumming is a good fit for the show, too, particularly with that beard.

The last Thrones star to feature prominently on Doctor Who was Maisie Williams (Arya Stark), who played a Viking girl named Ashildr. Let’s hope Addy’s appearance is as entertaining.

Back to Whittaker, SyFy Wire reports on a talk she gave to a crowd at New York Comic Con. “Playing the Doctor, it’s not a blank slate,” she said. “You have this incredible, rich history, you also have these extraordinary shoes that you are about to put on that 12 — or 13, however everyone counts them — have worn before.”

"The wonderful thing about it is that it’s only relevant to me now because this is me — my age, my life experiences — are what I’m bringing to it. That’s only representative of now, as well as the journey of the Doctor and all those wonderful things you can bring to it…You really fall head over heels into the role. What is addictive is the positivity and the hope and the striving. You just want to bring it out in your own life."

Also there’s a Doctor Who Barbie doll now, if you needed another reminder that everything is coming up Doctor these days:

The 11th season of Doctor Who will continue with “The Ghost Monument” this Sunday night.

We’ll see if the show can keep the momentum going.

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