Doctor Who: Flux‘s latest episode was hailed as “epic” and “breathtaking” by fans, but it didn’t fare quite so well in the overnight ratings.
In what has become a tradition for series 13, Village of the Angels ended in a cliffhanger, with Jodie Whittaker’s fate left up in the air and shocking viewers.
It was a welcome change to last week’s Once, Upon Time – which received more mixed reviews – in large part thanks to returning villains the Weeping Angels.
Despite ticking every box in Doctor Who fans’ wishlist, the episode wasn’t able to improve on a gradual ratings decline across the course of the series, ending up with 3.45 million viewers on the night – down from 3.76m last week.
The biggest show of the night was, of course, the I’m A Celebrity 2021 premiere, although that also struggled to hit the heights set by its launch show last year.
BBC News’ Entertainment Correspondent Lizo Mzimba posted last night’s ratings on Twitter, revealing that though the ITV reality show was the most-watched programme, figures were down from 2020.
“I’m A Celebrity on ITV launched with 8.03 million viewers. A big figure, but significantly down from 2020’s launch (during lockdown) of 10.93m,” Mzimba tweeted. “Doctor Who was 3.45m, a drop of a million since the series opener.”
Despite the drop, Doctor Who should fare well in catch-up views, with the final consolidated figures to be revealed at a later date.
Read more about Doctor Who:
- Doctor Who: Village of the Angels podcast review
- Doctor Who: Village of the Angels’ 10 biggest questions
- Village of the Angels may be the Empire Strikes Back of Doctor Who series 13
- Doctor Who: Flux star opens up on “shocking” episode 4 twist – “But she can’t die!”
- Doctor Who’s Village of the Angels includes surprise mid-credits scene
- Are the Time Lords returning to Doctor Who?
- Kate Lethbridge-Stewart makes shock Doctor Who return – but is UNIT back?
Doctor Who continues on Sundays on BBC One. For more, check out our dedicated Sci-Fi page or our full TV Guide.