Doctor Who Spinoff Class’ Ratings Woes Continue

Doctor Who spinoff The Class continues to score less than fantastic ratings, no matter how it airs.

Doctor Who spinoff Class has had one of the weirdest television rollouts in recent memory. Which probably helps explain why the show has performed so poorly thus far. Real talk: Not a lot of people are watching it.

The drama follows the adventures of four students and their teacher at Coal Hill Academy, an institution with a longstanding connection to the Who universe. It’s basically a teenage version of Torchwood, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Class originally premiered in October on BBC Three, a U.K. network that went online-only back in early 2016.  It didn’t do so hot there, with less than 185,000 people screening the series’ first two episodes. That’s a worrisome performance, but with the show still slated to get a proper TV airing on both BBC One and BBC America, it wasn’t that bad.

Well, now it’s maybe that bad.

The first two episodes of Class screened in a late night slot on BBC One this week and the results aren’t much better. Episode 1, titled “For Tonight We May Die” scored an audience of just 0.94 million viewers, a 10% share of the total TV audience. And that’s even with a touted guest appearance from current Twelfth Doctor Peter Capaldi. This rating is below the channel average of 1.64 million viewers in the timeslot, but it did outscore the broadcast of Newsnight on BBC Two (0.65 million). Yay?

Unfortunately, the series’ second episode, which aired immediately afterward, did even worse. “The Coach with the Dragon Tattoo” only managed 0.39 million viewers. That’s a loss of half the audience from its first episode. Yikes?

On the bright side, these numbers only represent overnight ratings. They don’t include numbers from those who may watch Class via BBC iPlayer or catch-up device. The totals could definitely go up in the coming days/weeks. And, of course, the jury is still out on the question of how the show will perform in America. Nevertheless, these ratings are concerning.

Honestly, the distribution strategy for Class is so strange. Considering the effort that all branches of the BBC put into making Doctor Who a worldwide brand, you might think they could coordinate a little better on this spinoff. The decision to repeatedly segment the show’s audience by airing it on different platforms at different times with large gaps in between them makes it much harder for Class to build buzz and enthusiasm. It’s difficult to even know when the show is airing where you are. These would be hurdles for any show to overcome, let alone a teen-focused spinoff series without a recognizable lead actor.

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Class will premiere in the U.S. this spring on BBC America, paired with the tenth season of Doctor Who. Perhaps this move will snag the show some more viewers?