Doctor Who Viewing Figures

Thanks to Throng (which has for the past two years published online the daily viewer ratings for the top performing programmes on each of the main channels), we can get an idea of how Doctor Who has been performing on New Zealand television of late. Throng's viewer ratings come from Nielsen Television Audience Measurement.

The figures for the first half of Series 6, which finished screening yesterday, show that the series got off to a strong start with a very healthy 146,520 viewers tuning in for The Impossible Astronaut, but thereafter declined, dropping below 100 thousand viewers after the third episode, and hitting its lowest point with The Almost People which had just 67,060 viewers. The series made a strong recovery for the finale, with 98,780 viewers watching A Good Man Goes to War. Curiously the ratings follow a consistent pattern of decreasing one week and increasing the next.

Series Six:

The Impossible Astronaut (19 May 2011): 146,520

Day of the Moon (26 May 2011): 101,760

The Curse of the Black Spot (2 June 2011): 126,240

The Doctor’s Wife (9 June 2011): 91,660

The Rebel Flesh (16 June 2011): 96,580

The Almost People (23 June 2011): 67,060

A Good Man Goes to War (30 June 2011): 98,790

Series average: 104,087

So how does this compare with previous Matt Smith episodes? Here are the ratings for last year's series, as well as the Christmas special screened earlier this year.

Series Five:

The Eleventh Hour (2 May 2010): 113,000

The Beast Below (9 May 2010): 105,140

Victory of the Daleks (16 May 2010): 111,930

The Time of Angels (23 May 2010): 116,710

Flesh and Stone (30 May 2010): 146,470

The Vampires of Venice (6 June 2010): 109,500

Amy’s Choice (13 June 2010): 146,560

The Hungry Earth (20 June 2010): 135,700

Cold Blood (27 June 2010): 143,270

Vincent and the Doctor (4 July 2010): 128,950

The Lodger (11 July 2010): 135,490

The Pandorica Opens (18 July 2010): 120,610

The Big Bang (25 July 2010): 118,220

Series average: 125,504

Christmas Special:

A Christmas Carol (30 January 2011): 85,130

One conclusion that might be drawn from these figures is that Doctor Who performs better when screened earlier in the evening (Series 5 screened at 7.30pm whereas the Christmas special and Series 6 started at 8:30pm), and on Sundays (where Series 5 episodes screened) rather than Thursdays (Series 6 and the Christmas special). The lower figures might be the result of some younger viewers missing out on seeing the series on broadcast, as the later broadcast means that it is on after bedtime. It is not necessarily just the children who may account for the lower figures but also the parents who might otherwise have watched the episodes with them as a shared family viewing experience.

Taking all of the first-run Matt Smith episodes screened to date, here they are ranked by rating. The Impossible Astronaut just misses out on being the highest-rated Matt Smith episode, but by The Almost People, screened just over a month later, is the lowest.

Ranking:

1. Amy’s Choice (13 June 2010): 146,560

2. The Impossible Astronaut (19 May 2011): 146,520

3. Flesh and Stone (30 May 2010): 146,470

4. Cold Blood (27 June 2010): 143,270

5. The Hungry Earth (20 June 2010): 135,700

6. The Lodger (11 July 2010): 135,490

7. Vincent and the Doctor (4 July 2010): 128,950

8. The Curse of the Black Spot (2 June 2011): 126,240

9. The Pandorica Opens (18 July 2010): 120,610

10. The Big Bang (25 July 2010): 118,220

11. The Time of Angels (23 May 2010): 116,710

12. The Eleventh Hour (2 May 2010): 113,000

13. Victory of the Daleks (16 May 2010): 111,930

14. The Vampires of Venice (6 June 2010): 109,500

15. The Beast Below (9 May 2010): 105,140

16. Day of the Moon (26 May 2011): 101,760

17. A Good Man Goes to War (30 June 2011): 98,790

18. The Rebel Flesh (16 June 2011): 96,580

19. The Doctor’s Wife (9 June 2011): 91,660

20. A Christmas Carol (30 January 2011): 85,130

21. The Almost People (23 June 2011): 67,060

New Doctor Who (no spoilers!)

I saw the first two episodes of the new series of Doctor Who today, at a press preview held five days in advance of their first television broadcast anywhere in the world. The preview was put on by Prime Television, the channel which will be screening the new series when it airs in New Zealand (the start date has yet to be announced).

I've been asked not to say anything specific or to spoil any plot details (not that I would anyway, as I'd hate to have such things revealed for me if I were reading this having yet to see the episodes). So no spoilers lie ahead, I promise.

The screening was preceded with a series trailer introduced by the Doctor himself, greeting us - "Hello, New Zealand!" - from inside the TARDIS in a specially-recorded segment.

We had been advised that the episodes we watched were not the final edits, so it will be interesting to see what, if anything, has changed when the proper versions are broadcast.

This two-part story (The Impossible Astronaut and Day of the Moon), is truly epic in scope. The twists and turns are so mind-boggling that I feel I need at least one more viewing to get everything straight in my head. It's no hyperbole to say that this is definitely one of the most complex and ambitious Doctor Who plots ever, so pay close attention, even to the smallest details.

The adventure is chillingly creepy in places, and I'm sure that certain scenes will provide potent nightmare material for younger viewers. In the fine tradition of the best Doctor Who episodes however, the chills are tempered with some moments of brilliant humour, and Matt Smith in particular gets to deliver many funny lines.

Since the 2005 revival, Doctor Who seems to have stuck to a series structure of leading with a relatively lightweight adventure followed by a gradual build-up to an epic finale. This year's series looks to be very different indeed. This story has all the feel of an epic series conclusion, and even manages to overshadow last year's The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang. If this is how the new series begins, how can it possibly get bigger and more impressive from here?

The second episode ended with a series trailer showing many more scenes from upcoming episodes that do not appear in any other trailers. Judging by what I saw, we're in for a real treat this year.

Quite superb. Doctor Who is back, and in grand style. I cannot wait to see more!

PS: Many thanks to Prime for inviting me along to the preview.

Armageddon It

Rochelle and I arrived home on Monday evening after four days in Wellington. We were in the capital city for Armageddon, a comic-con style event that takes place there once each year. Rochelle runs an online sci-fi collectibles store, Retrospace, and has a stand selling her wares at each Auckland and Wellington event.

This year was the third consecutive Wellington Armageddon we’d attended as exhibitors, and by far our most successful. The success is measured not just in terms of revenue earned and volume of stock sold, but also logistically as it was the easiest and most effortless experience we've had running a Retrospace stand at Armageddon.

In past years we loaded up our vehicle with as much stock as we could possibly cram in and drove from Auckland to Wellington. This had its drawbacks as it restricted on the amount of stock we had available to sell and also meant that by the time we arrived to set up and start selling we were already shattered from a ten-hour drive, and that's not even taking into consideration the return journey.

This year Rochelle loaded the stock into two large packing crates and booked a freight company to take them down. We enjoyed a short flight from Auckland to Wellington, arriving refreshed, and ready to set up at the TSB Arena, located on the city’s scenic waterfront.

The Retrospace stand, before the doors opened on the first day.

Unlike previous Armageddon events, which had quiet periods, at this year’s event we had a fairly constant crowd of customers clustered around our stand. I believe the attendance numbers for the show were significantly up on previous years as we were hearing reports that on the Saturday people were being refused entry for a time due to overcrowding issues, and there are mutterings about needing to perhaps move to a larger venue.

While working on the stand I chatted to a wide variety of people. Some were so enthusiastic that they came dressed as their favourite character (there were quite a few Matt Smith Doctors both male and female), while at the other end of the spectrum there were those who seemed just a bit overwhelmed by it all. Some came over to chat about Doctor Who, drawn by the large array of merchandise we had displayed on our stand. I was even recognised from my appearances on the Doctor Who DVDs and a television item about Rochelle and me that screened on Close Up some weeks earlier. It seems I have my own local fan following, of sorts.

There were some interesting conversations, most memorably a debate between several teenage girls over whether David Tennant or Matt Smith was better. I ventured that I thought Smith was a slightly better actor, and got agreement from one girl, whilst another piped up that she preferred Smith because his sonic was bigger than David’s. Size, apparently, is important.

Feeling slightly overwhelmed by the crowd...

The event had an array of guests, including Colin Baker (the Sixth Doctor, Doctor Who), John Leeson (Voice of K9, Doctor Who), Katee Sackhoff (Starbuck, Battlestar Galactica), and several others, but I didn’t get to see any of their talks. Even with the invaluable assistance of those helping us out on the stand (thank you so much, Chris, Wade and Kim), it was rarely possible to get away for any length of time. I expected a quiet period whilst Colin and John were talking on stage, but this never occurred and we continued to have people buying Doctor Who merchandise from us during that time.

I did however get to meet John Leeson, who is a really lovely man. We discovered over drinks on the Friday night that we share a few areas of common interest and experience. I was also chatted with John’s lovely wife Judy who told me all about her work as a production buyer on such films as The Hours, The Golden Compass, and Martin Scorese’s latest, Hugo Cabret. Given her impressive background in movies, I thought that Judy ought to have been a guest speaker at Armageddon herself, but she was having none of it.

His Master's Voice - John Leeson

I also got to meet a couple of the animation voice artist guests, namely the charming Paul Eiding, whom I introduced to drinking cider, and Michael Sinterniklaas, the voice of Dean in The Venture Bros, and who uncannily looks a little like his animated alter ego. Michael told me he’s been a Doctor Who fan for years, and seemed as impressed to learn that I worked on the DVDs as I was that he worked on one of my favourite animated series.

"Go Team Venture!" - myself and Michael Sinterniklaas

Roll on the next Armageddon, in Auckland in October!

Absence of Malus

I began writing production text for the BBC / 2|entertain Doctor Who DVD range two and a half years ago. Quite early on I think it must have become apparent to my commissioning editor that I have an particular affinity for the Fifth Doctor's era, because I soon found myself the go-to guy for stories from Peter Davison's third and final year. (Thankfully Warriors of the Deep was already out on DVD, as that's one story I don't regard with much enthusiasm.)

Thanks to 2|entertain deciding that they needed to commission brand new production text for special editions of two previously-released stories, I've been responsible for a straight run of five consecutive stories: The Awakening, Frontios, Resurrection of the Daleks, Planet of Fire and The Caves of Androzani. That's 18 episodes in total, or 7 hours, 23 minutes of viewing time. I no longer have to be cryptic about any of those titles as 2|entertain has revealed the 2011 schedule in the latest issue of Doctor Who Magazine. All of the as-yet unreleased stories I've worked on are on that list. I've known for a couple of years that I was due to cover all five stories and I've gradually been working to complete that set. As of today I'm feeling a sense of accomplishment: I've just delivered the production text subtitles for The Awakening, which completes that set.

Every time I tackle one of these subtitle scripts it seems to eat up a large chunk of my life. I can't vouch for my fellow writers but it seems to take me a good couple of months to complete a four-part story, from beginning the research to finishing the scripts. Even when I'm not actually at my desk, working away on the project, it still occupies my thoughts. I always experience the mental equivalent of a great weight lifting from my shoulders when I put the finishing touches on a script and email it off to my editor on the far side of the world.

There is not much time to take a breather this time around. While I've been working away at The Awakening, other tasks have been mounting up. I've an article I've promised to write for one publication, an interview I need to edit for another, and there is also the matter of my book, which I need to get back to revising very soon.

For a long time I thought The Awakening would be my last subtitling job. It is the final Peter Davison story scheduled for DVD release, so that is 'my' era effectively done and dusted. But it now seems that my days of writing production text are not quite over yet. Mid-way though writing this latest set of subtitles, I was offered another commission. It's a completely different era of the series, of course, but I'm not about to pass up more work. So before too long I'll be immersing myself in the minutiae of another Doctor Who story. Maybe this one will be my last? Who knows!

Oh, and if you think the title of this post is a dreadful pun, wait until you see how The Awakening was going to end before the final scene was rewritten!

Long Ago in an English Winter

Paul Cornell has assembled an online collection of pieces of fan fiction featuring characters he had created. The stories are represented as a list of links on his latest blog entry The Twelve Blogs of Christmas: Nine. Among the stories represented here is one that I wrote sixteen years ago.

Signifying Nothing revisits a moment from the 1989 Doctor Who television story Battlefield, framed as an encounter between the Doctor (in his seventh incarnation) and the Brigadier. The story qualifies for Paul Cornell's list because his creation, Bernice Summerfield, features in the story. This is a slight cheat as although Bernice is in the story, she is not at the heart of the piece.

The story appeared in print in TSV 38, published March 1994, but it was originally intended for Doctor Who Magazine. In the early 1990s DWM featured one-page short stories called 'Brief Encounters', in which typically some aspect from the series' past would be revisited. Signifying Nothing was written as my first and only attempt at submitting something for this series. Before I could submit it I learned that the magazine had a huge pile of 'Brief Encounters' stories awaiting publication. Somewhat dishearted by this revelation, I decided against mailing in my story.

Perhaps I made the wrong decision. If I had sent my story to DWM, and if it had been accepted for publication, who knows what might have eventuated? I would undoubtedly have been encouraged by this small success to write more short stories. It may have even given me the impetus I needed to finally do something about that long-talked-about Doctor Who New Adventures novel I had aspired to write, but ultimately never did.

Instead, the story ended up being published in TSV, my Doctor Who fanzine. The version that saw print was trimmed down from the original, losing some extraneous material about past companions socialising over drinks. I also excised the fact that it was a Christmas party, which accounts for why it is snowing outside the Brigadier's house. Had this detail been retained it would have been highly appropriate for the story's inclusion in Cornell's fiction collection, which is one of his Christmas-themed blog articles.

It is especially fitting to me that Paul Cornell should showcase this story, as his novel Timewyrm: Revelation had been hugely inspirational, opening my eyes to the potential of Doctor Who in prose fiction. I can see some of the influence of Cornell's fiction in my story with its emphasis on a character's internal emotional struggle, the wintry landscape and even the Shakespeare quotation.

Television story novelisations excepted, Signifying Nothing was my last piece of published fiction. I subsequently decided to focus exclusively on writing non-fiction for TSV and other publications, and that's where my writing career has taken me since.

Resurrection Revisited

I've delivered my fourth set of Production Notes subtitles.

This latest set is for the Resurrection of the Daleks Special Edition DVD. Normally I have to wait some months after I’ve written subtitles for a story before I can discuss it openly, but on this occasion there is no such impediment to disclosure, since the title has already been announced by 2|entertain as forming part of the Revisitations 2 box set, which is due out (I think) around the middle of next year.

I was offered the commission for this story, along with the of The Caves of Androzani Special Edition two years ago, just after I delivered the Production Notes for Planet of Fire. I had demonstrated with that first job that I could do the work to the required standard and as these two stories book-end Planet of Fire, I was the obvious choice to tackle both.

While I was very keen to do The Caves of Androzani, being as it is a very highly regarded story which regularly tops polls of favourite stories (even beating out Blink in last year’s Doctor Who Magazine survey), I was less enthusiastic about Resurrection of the Daleks. It is not so much that I dislike the story, though it pales in comparison to Androzani, but rather that I had a feeling of ‘been there, done that’ about this one.

I had written a fan novelisation of Resurrection as a not-for-profit book a decade ago (ebook available here). In order to write that book I had scrutinised the story in great detail. I knew every character, every scene, every line, intimately. The prospect of going back over old ground did not thrill me but I did not want to pass up the opportunity of more work. The idea that I could have a sequential ‘run’ of stories on DVD was appealing, and my past familiarity with the story could also work to my advantage by speeding up the writing process. So I agreed, in September 2008, to do both stories.

For the next two years, Resurrection sat on the back-burner while I tackled other projects. My third set of subtitles (for a story which for the moment must remain nameless since it has yet to be announced), was completed in September. Following this delivery, I had just two months to produce the Resurrection subtitles from start to finish. I knew this was achievable but there was little margin for error.

As soon as I started work on Resurrection I discovered that the time-coded DVD I had been supplied refused to play. The time-codes are an essential part of the subtitles script, defining the precise placement of each block of text on screen. I usually like to get the time-codes worked out early on, but this time I had to rethink my process so that I wasn’t unduly delayed whilst I waited on a replacement time-coded disc to arrive from the UK.

The penultimate week before the delivery date was already booked up with helping Rochelle run the Retrospace stands at Armageddon, during which I would be unable to work on the subtitles so I had to work around this. Then, directly after Armageddon, I came down with a severe cold which I almost certainly caught at the expo. This meant that I was sick throughout the last week I had in which to finish the subtitles, so as much as I just wanted to crawl into bed, I soldiered on and managed to deliver the complete set of subtitles on schedule.

I'm relieved that, despite the haste with which these were written and the obstacles I encountered along the way, this latest set of subtitles was approved with relatively few changes.

I’ve now resumed working on revisions to my much-delayed Comic Strip Companion book, something I had to put aside while working on the subtitles. Although I'm still writing about Doctor Who, it is still a big change to move from short, pithy blocks of informational text to long-form prose critiques and analysis; from grim Dalek massacres on DVD to the Doctor's slightly bonkers but ever-so-charming exploits in the pages of TV Comic.

Production Text Podcast

My very first podcast interview has just gone live. (I've been interviewed on the radio a few times, but never before on a podcast, though theoretically the medium's the same).

I'm interviewed by an old friend, Ian Bisset, about my work on the Doctor Who DVD production text subtitles.

I first met Ian in the early 1990s when he lived in Wellington and was a key player in the organisation of the Wellington Chapter. Ian and I fell out of contact when he emigrated to the USA later in the decade, but we've recently rekindled contact via Twitter. Ian is one half of the Cultdom Collective, a regular series of sci-fi themed podcasts with a clear bias towards all things Doctor Who. Ian asked me for an interview, and once I'd got to grips with Skype we finally recorded an hour-long session last month, at which time the DVD of Planet of Fire, featuring my first set of subtitles, had recently been released in the USA.

It's a chatty, informal interview and starts with a bit of a ramble through our mutual history before getting down to the nitty-gritty of what the production text subtitles entail and how I approach writing them.

Here's the link:
http://cultdom.com/2010/10/18/cultdom-special-interview-with-paul-scoones/