The second half of Doctor Who Series 6 has now screened in New Zealand, and overnight viewer ratings for all six of these episodes have been posted. The ratings for the top-performing programmes on each of the main television channels, as supplied by Nielsen Television Audience Measurement, are published daily on Throng.
As I've posted previously, ratings are available for the first-run screenings of each of the Matt Smith episodes. The figures show that Series 5 performed better than the first half of Series 6. Amy’s Choice topped the chart for last year's series with 146,560 viewers. This year's series opener, The Impossible Astronaut, just about matched this with 146,520.
At the other end of the scale however, no episodes from Series 5 dipped below six figures. The Beast Below was the poorest performer on 105,140. This year the ratings haven't been nearly as strong. The seasonal special A Christmas Carol, got a dismal 85,130, and The Almost People plunged even lower to 67,060. Only the opening three episodes (The Impossible Astronaut, Day of the Moon and The Curse of the Black Spot managed six-figure ratings.
I think the later timeslot is the key contributing factor accounting for this year's under-performance. In 2010 episodes screened at 7.30, whereas this year Series 6 and the Christmas special started at 8.30 pm. This later start time not only pushed the episodes out of reach of younger viewers who could not stay up to 9.30 to see to the end of the programme, but also placed Doctor Who directly against heavy-hitting prime-time drama series on the other main channels.
That said, the ratings for this latest batch of six episodes - which continued to screen in the same Thursday 8.30 pm timeslot - are not all bad news. The opening two episodes, Let's Kill Hitler and Night Terrors, rated a respectable 117,110 and 119,850, placing them slightly ahead of several of last year's episodes. The audience dropped off for The Girl Who Waited and The God Complex, and the supposedly highly-anticipated series finale, The Wedding of River Song, which dropped to a low 80,490.
The stand-out episode was however Closing Time, which gained an astonishing rating of 171,280. This is higher than any other Matt Smith episode. Closing Time was also the top-rating programme on Prime on the day it screened. No other Matt Smith episode of Doctor Who has charted first on Prime's daily ratings.
So what compelled so many viewers to tune in for this one episode? Was it that it featured James Corden, an actor familiar to New Zealand television audiences from the oft-repeated Gavin & Stacey... or was it the return of the Cybermen? Both Corden and the Cybermen were promoted in Prime's trailer for Closing Time, screened frequently in the week leading up to the episode's showing.
Series Six Part 2:
Let’s Kill Hitler (15 September 2011): 117,110
Night Terrors (22 September 2011): 119,850
The Girl Who Waited (29 September 2011): 102,210
The God Complex (6 October 2011): 96,430
Closing Time (13 October 2011): 171,280
The Wedding of River Song (20 October 2011): 80,490
Series average: 114,562
Ranking:
1. Closing Time (13 October 2011): 171,280
2. Amy’s Choice (13 June 2010): 146,560
3. The Impossible Astronaut (19 May 2011): 146,520
4. Flesh and Stone (30 May 2010): 146,470
5. Cold Blood (27 June 2010): 143,270
6. The Hungry Earth (20 June 2010): 135,700
7. The Lodger (11 July 2010): 135,490
8. Vincent and the Doctor (4 July 2010): 128,950
9. The Curse of the Black Spot (2 June 2011): 126,240
10. The Pandorica Opens (18 July 2010): 120,610
11. Night Terrors (22 September 2011): 119,850
12. The Big Bang (25 July 2010): 118,220
13. Let’s Kill Hitler (15 September 2011): 117,110
14. The Time of Angels (23 May 2010): 116,710
15. The Eleventh Hour (2 May 2010): 113,000
16. Victory of the Daleks (16 May 2010): 111,930
17. The Vampires of Venice (6 June 2010): 109,500
18. The Beast Below (9 May 2010): 105,140
19. The Girl Who Waited (29 September 2011): 102,210
20. Day of the Moon (26 May 2011): 101,760
21. A Good Man Goes to War (30 June 2011): 98,790
22. The Rebel Flesh (16 June 2011): 96,580
23. The God Complex (6 October 2011): 96,430
24. The Doctor’s Wife (9 June 2011): 91,660
25. A Christmas Carol (30 January 2011): 85,130
26. The Wedding of River Song (20 October 2011): 80,490
27. The Almost People (23 June 2011): 67,060
