Girl power just got a whole meaning as Doctor Who ratings jump with the introduction of the series’ first female doctor–Jodie Whittaker.
Doctor Who premiered season 11 earlier this week and immediately fans took a liking to the first female doctor’s presence. The global wide premiere was a huge celebration as New York Comic-Con aired it live followed by a panel with Jodie Whittaker and showrunner Chris Chibnall. Along with the two firsts, BBC America got strong ratings for the season 11 premiere, according to Deadline.
“The Woman Who Fell To Earth” aired at 1:45 PM EST as fans all over the world tuned in at the same time to watch this iconic moment take place. A total of 1.4 million viewers were watching and the premiere received a 0.5 rating in the adults 18-49 demographic.
This is a whopping 48% increase in audience and 67% in demographics from Peter Capaldi’s final season in 2017. While Jodie Whittaker’s series appearance ratings were up from David Tennant and Matt Smith’s, there was still a 38% decrease in the number of people watching.
The August 2014 episode, “Deep Breath”, written by then-showrunner Steven Moffatt, had over 2.2 million viewers and remains the series high. Just in the U.K., Whittaker beat out Tennant, Smith, and Capaldi’s intros with approximately 8.2 million viewers and about a 40.1% share for BBC One.
The second episode of this season will move back to its regular time-slot of 8 PM EST competing against the might Sunday Night football games. “The Ghost Monument” is written by new showrunner Chibnall and was teased at NYCC to have a special historical character in it.
After nearly a year after the first official announcement that Whittaker would be the first female Doctor, fans have eagerly anticipated seeing how well she would do in this role. It’s safe to say she had a phenomenal first episode, and it can only get better from here.
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