10 Biggest Doctor Who Conspiracy Theories
2. Doctor Who’s Viewing Figures Are Inflated
Doctor Who’s viewing figures have been recorded throughout its history, and the stats are always contextual.
For instance, the show’s highest-rated episode, City of Death Part 4, was seen by 16.1 million people. But this figure was only possible because of an ITV strike, which meant that it was airing against no opposition.
And though Doctor Who’s viewing figures are not what they once were (with roughly 3-4 million tuning in to Season 1, compared to the 7-8 million averages achieved by Series 1-8) TV viewing figures are down across the board, and the show is still charting in the top 20 programmes in the UK.
Even so, certain corners of the internet insist that the current ratings are inflated – which, by any measure, is a ridiculous assertion.
For starters, it's not the BBC who produces the figures. It's the independent organisation BARB, which would have – and let's just check our notes here – oh that's right, nothing to gain from lying about the viewing figures of one show.
And if they were somehow inflated, wouldn't Doctor Who be the absolute biggest thing on UK television, instead of hovering around the mid-teens on the weekly chart?
Ultimately, the biggest conspiracy here is that viewing figures matter as much as they do. Doctor Who generates so much value in other areas (like merchandise) that the number of eyeballs watching it is only one part of the overall equation.