The Doctor Who ratings dichotomy
June 13, 2006I can’t understand Doctor Who’s appeal anymore. It’s fair to say that the new series has attracted a huge mainstream audience, but it seems to come at the expense of its hardcore fan base. There’s not a single episode this season that hasn’t been panned on Outpost Gallifrey and other websites. And this is despite the new series attracting 30-40% Audience share every Saturday night.
It seems that Doctor Who has become a mainstream hit, but at the expense of alienating its hardcore fan base. So was it worth it? Hell, yes! I’m sure the “true fans” - the gatekeepers of the one true Doctor Who, would’ve preferred it if the show had never been remade. But this brand new show has attracted millions of new viewers, not just in Britain but across the world. To me, that’s nothing short of a miracle when you consider just how much contempt it was held in only a few short years ago.
And now the opposite is true. The show is beloved by its mainstream audience, but hated and despised by the hardcore fans that were once its greatest champions. I honestly don’t know how long this new show is going to last, I’m just enjoying the ride. Don’t believe me? Read all the negative threads at Outpost Gallifrey. It’s one thing to constructively criticise the show, but to personally attack Billie Piper and Russell T. Davies, or to accuse the show of having “a gay agenda” is going way too far.
It’s too bad that the fans that once loved the show so much, now hate it to such an extent that they would love to see if fail.
