Doctor Who season 12 finale gets lowest ratings since 2005

Doctor Who aired its season 12 finale, “The Timeless Children,” a little over a week ago, and we’re now learning that the ratings didn’t exactly set the world on fire. In fact, the ratings were the lowest they’ve been since the series was rebooted back in 2005, which quite honestly shocks me.

In my personal opinion, Doctor Who feels as if it has had new life breathed into it ever since Jodie Whittaker took over in 2018. It’s a bit baffling to see that not as many people tuned in to see how the season would end.

The season 12 finale raked in about 4.6 million viewers which is still quite big, but not what Doctor Who is used to. And according to Press Association, six of the show’s 10 least watched episodes are from this most recent season.

I’m trying to wrap my head around this, because there have been some great storylines recently. In fact, the biggest reveal the franchise has probably ever had came from the season 12 finale, that the Doctor had regenerations before we met the “First” Doctor way back in the ’60s.

Some may be wondering if it makes sense to end the series considering it’s simply not doing as well as it has in the past. Does it need another reboot in order to be successful? I’m not entirely sure it does. I do think that while the appeal behind Jodie Whittaker joining the series as the first female Doctor was alluring to many — the show got a boost after her debut, but it petered out — a lot of people did give up on it. And they’re missing some quality stuff!

We should mention that it’s harder to measure ratings these days than it used to be even back when the rebooted Doctor Who started, since there are now so many ways to watch a show beyond just tuning in when it airs. But maybe interest is just flagging for a show after over a decade on the air. Perhaps after Whittaker decides to leave, it might be a good time to wrap things up. But until that happens (maybe in a season or two?), I think we should take advantage of what’s being given to us.

We know that showrunner Chris Chibnall (who is still around for another season, at least) has already said the series is not going anywhere just yet. So go back and watch the season, folks. You just might be surprised.

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h/t Metro