Media Scribbler

Anyone who knows me pretty much knows I’m completely obsessed with “Doctor Who” at the moment. I’m thankful that Sci-Fi runs it here in the States, and I hope that they continue to be happy with their ratings and not pressure BBC to keep stuff under wraps before the American airings.

So here is some great news for both Sci-Fi and me: The finale last Friday (2nd part with a heckuva cliffhanger in part 1) averaged 1.264 million total viewers and scored 588,000 viewers in the key demo. Overall, the show showed double-digit growth from Season 3 (currently being shown on BBC America, shown first-run on Sci-Fi.) It was up 25 percent in household ratings, 17 percent in total viewers, and 6 percent in the demo.

I would really like to say that a lot of that comes from a growing and fervent fanbase that has crossed the pond or wish we could sometimes, all mystified by the ramblings of a rogue time traveler. I’ve written about this at my personal blog before, but when a British network squeezes to death possible sources of their shows before they get the check for the syndication rights, they basically slap us who would LOVE to just pay a license fee and get same-day feeds of some shows.

This is a show that has a very loyal fanbase, even as they debate to death whether Russell T. Davies brought the modern version close to ruination. They buy the DVDs, and anyone who’s bought a series (there are 30 of them, newbies) knows they ain’t cheap. And they have rewarded Sci-Fi for their relatively speedy two-to-four week delay in airing the latest series by not freaking out if the fandom knows the basics about what’s gooing to happen. They’ll even watch it again on BBC America eventually.

And now that this eternity has passed and most of the folks who are reading this have DW reairing in their country, how are you enjoying the series? And if you’ve seen the finale, what did you think? Comments may be spoilery, but Donna hate won’t be tolerated (I have my limits).

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