{"id":415774,"date":"2011-05-03T00:53:03","date_gmt":"2011-05-03T00:53:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/05\/03\/doctor-who-scares-off-1m-viewers-as-5m-tune-in\/"},"modified":"2011-05-03T00:53:03","modified_gmt":"2011-05-03T00:53:03","slug":"doctor-who-scares-off-1m-viewers-as-5m-tune-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/03\/doctor-who-scares-off-1m-viewers-as-5m-tune-in\/","title":{"rendered":"Doctor Who scares off 1m viewers as 5m tune in"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

By Ben Todd<\/a>
Last updated at 1:53 AM on 3rd May 2011<\/p>\n

It has been one of the BBC\u2019s success stories of recent years.<\/p>\n

As Doctor Who begins its latest series with disappointing viewing figures, however, some fans are asking if the plotlines are too scary and too complex for its largely family audience.<\/p>\n

Early figures for the second episode of the new series starring Matt Smith as the Doctor and Karen Gillan as companion Amy Pond show that more than one million viewers turned off the show.<\/p>\n

\"Creepy:<\/p>\n

Creepy: A Silent, one of the new killer aliens on the show<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

It secured 5.39million viewers \u2013 down 1.01million on the series opener the week before. Overnight figures for that first episode were down by almost 1.5million on the equivalent episode last year, although ratings released yesterday showed it had a final total audience of 8.86million.<\/p>\n

Even so, the apparent downturn in popularity has led to doubts among some avid viewers over the plotlines being pursued by executive producer and main writer Steven Moffat.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Indeed, some fans are concerned the programme is no longer family viewing, especially at its current 6pm time slot on a Saturday.<\/p>\n

Speaking of the first episode of the new series \u2013 in which an alien called a Silent killed a member of White House staff \u2013 one reporter from TV website Digital Spy wrote that he was concerned at its 6pm start\u00a0 time.<\/p>\n

\"Menaced:<\/p>\n

Menaced: Karen Gillan as Amy Pond in episode two of the hit show<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u2018It\u2019s debatable whether the unsettling scene in which a Silent confronts Amy and kills the White House staffer Joy should really be broadcast at 6pm,\u2019 he wrote.<\/p>\n

An unnamed father told how his two children, aged nine and four, have now asked to record Doctor Who and watch it on Sunday mornings because it is too scary to watch close to bedtime.<\/p>\n

Another unnamed viewer, writing on a dedicated fan site, told how her six-year-old daughter, previously an avid fan, now never wants to watch the programme again because it is too scary.<\/p>\n

The mother added: \u2018Steven M seems to have no interest in making it enjoyable for children and just seems obsessed by how scary and complex he can make the storyline.\u2019<\/p>\n

\"Line-up:<\/p>\n

Line-up: The cast of Doctor Who from left to right. Alex Kingston as River Song, Arthur Darvill as Rory Williams, Matt Smith as The Doctor and Karen Gillan as Amy Pond<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Moffat recently admitted the first episode of the new series was \u2018darker\u2019 than any previous series opener. However, he added: \u2018Children absolutely rank Doctor Who stories in order of frightening-ness \u2013 that\u2019s what it\u2019s about. I\u2019ve got two kids of my own and I\u2019d never do anything I didn\u2019t think was acceptable for them.\u2019<\/p>\n

Some fans also say the plots have become too complicated and involved, but others say it is important for the show to experiment.<\/p>\n

A BBC spokesman said: \u2018Doctor Who is a show for all the family. It\u2019s well known for getting viewers hiding behind their sofas and children expect episodes to provide scares and thrills.<\/p>\n

\u2018Doctor Who is never gruesome, cold-blooded or gratuitously violent. All content is carefully considered for a pre-watershed audience.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Read more from the original source:
\nDoctor Who scares off 1m viewers as 5m tune in<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Ben Todd Last updated at 1:53 AM on 3rd May 2011 It has been one of the BBC\u2019s success stories of recent years. As Doctor Who begins its latest series with disappointing viewing figures, however, some fans are asking if the plotlines are too scary and too complex for its largely family audience. Early figures for the second episode of the new series starring Matt Smith as the Doctor and Karen Gillan as companion Amy Pond show that more than one million viewers turned off the show. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-415774","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\nDoctor Who scares off 1m viewers as 5m tune in - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/03\/doctor-who-scares-off-1m-viewers-as-5m-tune-in\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Doctor Who scares off 1m viewers as 5m tune in - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"By Ben Todd Last updated at 1:53 AM on 3rd May 2011 It has been one of the BBC\u2019s success stories of recent years. As Doctor Who begins its latest series with disappointing viewing figures, however, some fans are asking if the plotlines are too scary and too complex for its largely family audience. Early figures for the second episode of the new series starring Matt Smith as the Doctor and Karen Gillan as companion Amy Pond show that more than one million viewers turned off the show.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"http:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/i\/pix\/2011\/05\/02\/article-1382802-0BDF538500000578-450_468x326.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ghanamma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ghanamma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/03\/doctor-who-scares-off-1m-viewers-as-5m-tune-in\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/03\/doctor-who-scares-off-1m-viewers-as-5m-tune-in\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"Doctor Who scares off 1m viewers as 5m tune in\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-05-03T00:53:03+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/03\/doctor-who-scares-off-1m-viewers-as-5m-tune-in\/\"},\"wordCount\":558,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/03\/doctor-who-scares-off-1m-viewers-as-5m-tune-in\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/i\/pix\/2011\/05\/02\/article-1382802-0BDF538500000578-450_468x326.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/03\/doctor-who-scares-off-1m-viewers-as-5m-tune-in\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/03\/doctor-who-scares-off-1m-viewers-as-5m-tune-in\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/03\/doctor-who-scares-off-1m-viewers-as-5m-tune-in\/\",\"name\":\"Doctor Who scares off 1m viewers as 5m tune in - Ghanamma.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/03\/doctor-who-scares-off-1m-viewers-as-5m-tune-in\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/03\/doctor-who-scares-off-1m-viewers-as-5m-tune-in\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/i\/pix\/2011\/05\/02\/article-1382802-0BDF538500000578-450_468x326.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-05-03T00:53:03+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/03\/doctor-who-scares-off-1m-viewers-as-5m-tune-in\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/03\/doctor-who-scares-off-1m-viewers-as-5m-tune-in\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/i\/pix\/2011\/05\/02\/article-1382802-0BDF538500000578-450_468x326.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/i\/pix\/2011\/05\/02\/article-1382802-0BDF538500000578-450_468x326.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/\",\"name\":\"Ghanamma.com\",\"description\":\"News In Ghana - Latest Ghana News Headlines\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Doctor Who scares off 1m viewers as 5m tune in - Ghanamma.com","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/03\/doctor-who-scares-off-1m-viewers-as-5m-tune-in\/","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"Doctor Who scares off 1m viewers as 5m tune in - Ghanamma.com","twitter_description":"By Ben Todd Last updated at 1:53 AM on 3rd May 2011 It has been one of the BBC\u2019s success stories of recent years. As Doctor Who begins its latest series with disappointing viewing figures, however, some fans are asking if the plotlines are too scary and too complex for its largely family audience. Early figures for the second episode of the new series starring Matt Smith as the Doctor and Karen Gillan as companion Amy Pond show that more than one million viewers turned off the show.","twitter_image":"http:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/i\/pix\/2011\/05\/02\/article-1382802-0BDF538500000578-450_468x326.jpg","twitter_creator":"@ghanamma","twitter_site":"@ghanamma","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/03\/doctor-who-scares-off-1m-viewers-as-5m-tune-in\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/03\/doctor-who-scares-off-1m-viewers-as-5m-tune-in\/"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"Doctor Who scares off 1m viewers as 5m tune in","datePublished":"2011-05-03T00:53:03+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/03\/doctor-who-scares-off-1m-viewers-as-5m-tune-in\/"},"wordCount":558,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/03\/doctor-who-scares-off-1m-viewers-as-5m-tune-in\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/i\/pix\/2011\/05\/02\/article-1382802-0BDF538500000578-450_468x326.jpg","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/03\/doctor-who-scares-off-1m-viewers-as-5m-tune-in\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/03\/doctor-who-scares-off-1m-viewers-as-5m-tune-in\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/03\/doctor-who-scares-off-1m-viewers-as-5m-tune-in\/","name":"Doctor Who scares off 1m viewers as 5m tune in - Ghanamma.com","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/03\/doctor-who-scares-off-1m-viewers-as-5m-tune-in\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/03\/doctor-who-scares-off-1m-viewers-as-5m-tune-in\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/i\/pix\/2011\/05\/02\/article-1382802-0BDF538500000578-450_468x326.jpg","datePublished":"2011-05-03T00:53:03+00:00","author":{"@id":""},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/03\/doctor-who-scares-off-1m-viewers-as-5m-tune-in\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/03\/doctor-who-scares-off-1m-viewers-as-5m-tune-in\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/i\/pix\/2011\/05\/02\/article-1382802-0BDF538500000578-450_468x326.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/i\/pix\/2011\/05\/02\/article-1382802-0BDF538500000578-450_468x326.jpg"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/","name":"Ghanamma.com","description":"News In Ghana - Latest Ghana News Headlines","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415774","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=415774"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415774\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=415774"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=415774"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=415774"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}