The Church on Ruby Road gets one of Doctor Who’s biggest ever +7 time-shifts to become a Christmas hit
The updated viewing figure for Ncuti Gatwa’s first Christmas Special as the Doctor is here! They solidify the first Christmas Day special since 2017’s place as one of the biggest hits of Christmas TV this year. As of the 1st of January, The Church on Ruby Road had been seen by 7.49m viewers.
That’s an additional 2.76m viewers and a 58.4% increase on the initial overnight rating. In terms of pure numbers, that’s the biggest weekly time-shift since The Woman Who Fell to Earth also gained 2.76m viewers in 2018. In fact, it puts the Thirteenth and Fifteenth Doctors’ debut stories in joint second place for Doctor Who’s largest ever increase in the +7 viewing figures. Only Matt Smith’s final episode, 2013’s The Time of the Doctor, had a larger increase, with 2.85m. In percentage terms, meanwhile, it’s in third place behind Twelfth Doctor stories The Eaters of Light (63.7%) and The Lie of the Land (60.1%).
The national tradition of watching the chimes of midnight with Big Ben won the final week of the year, with Doctor Who not far behind in its highest chart position this year
Ultimately, that 7.49m +7 viewing figure makes Doctor Who #3 for the week from Christmas Day to New Year’s Eve. In the end the final week of the year was won, predictably, by the 11.4m watching Big Ben striking midnight on New Year’s Eve and the following fireworks. Call the Midwife’s Christmas special squeaked just ahead of The Church of Ruby Road to claim second place with 7.66m.
Behind Doctor Who were new Agatha Christie adaptation Murder is Easy on 6.83m, the Christmas message from King Charles III on 6.75m, and the final ever episode of Ghosts on 6.62m. Rounding out the top ten for one of the most competitive weeks of the year were Death in Paradise (6.61m), Strictly Come Dancing (6.6m) and the two parts of the New Year’s Eve celebrations at the Royal Albert Hall (5.77m and 5.74m).
The +7 viewing figure emphasizes again Doctor Who’s enduring appeal
That 7.49m for The Church on Ruby Road is up 0.64m (9.4%) on previous episode The Giggle. It’s also up a massive 3.09m (70.2%) on the most recent festive special, 2022’s Eve of the Daleks. Casting our gaze further back, it’s now down just 0.43m (5.4%) on last time Doctor Who aired on Christmas Day. Itself a remarkably small drop given how much the television landscape has changed in the six years inbetween.
Last week we compared the overnights for Christmas specials from various shows in 2017 and 2023 to place Doctor Who’s own return to Christmas Day in context. We can now update it based on their +7 ratings. Compared to Christmas Day 2017, Call the Midwife is down 19.96%, Strictly Come Dancing is down 20.29%, EastEnders is down 32.96%, and finally Mrs. Brown’s Boys is down 54.98%.
Blogtor Who has said this before, but it bears repeating. Whatever these numbers suggest about the state of broadcast television generally, they make clear Doctor Who’s value as a show navigating it with more success than most.
With an average rating of 7.27m, Doctor Who is confirmed as one of 2024’s biggest shows
We can also now see how Doctor Who fits within 2024 overall. The four specials’ average +7 viewing figure was 7.27m, making it the second biggest drama of the year. Only the rollercoaster of the final series of Happy Valley had more viewers per episode last year with 9.16m on average. But behind it were popular shows like Death in Paradise (7.24m) at #3, Unforgotten (7.08m) at #4, and Call the Midwife (7.06m) at #5.
Doctor Who is still be one of the biggest shows on British television, almost two decades after its revival. That speaks to more than just the show’s longevity. It once again proves the wisdom of the decisions made back in 1966. They didn’t just recast the lead actor but set the template of a show which continually renews and changes itself. A steady decline over time is the norm for any established show. Yet it seems audiences will always return to check out its latest revamp. In turn, Doctor Who moving with the times enables it to continually refresh its pool of fans with new viewers meeting the Time Lord and their companions for the very first time.
Details of The Star Beast’s +28 viewing figure are coming soon, exclusively to Doctor Who Magazine
Finally BARB have also compiled the +28 viewing figure for The Star Beast and it’s an impressive total. This final official rating will be revealed exclusively in Doctor Who Magazine. So make sure to pick up the February issue for that and Tom Spilsbury’s reliably astute analysis.
If I’m not mistaken, this is the first time in all 60 years of Doctor Who’s history that the show was the #2 drama on television for the whole year. Pretty impressive.
Literally the opposite of the “ratings disaster” that the extremist bigots of the “Fandom Menace” are falsely claiming on YouTube and social media.