Sci-fi week has left me a zombie
- Publication: The Sunday Times
- Date: 2025-04-20
- Author: Rod Liddle
- Page: Culture, p. 12
- Language: English
And now vintage sci-fi. Do you know what the average age of the Doctor Who audience is? I had imagined it would be something like 12, but nope, it's 45.5.
That's up over the previous series by almost two years — and up over the first series by about 30 years, I would guess. There seems to be no shame in adults remaining permanent children these days, as you would gather every time you see a middle-aged man in shorts and trainers reading Harry Potter on the train while eating chicken nuggets.
That audience demographic is also a consequence of children not being remotely interested in Doctor Who —according to YouGov about 39 per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds have never watched the programme. They have a point. As has been well-documented elsewhere, Russell T Davies's scripts and scenarios have become preachy and more woke than a three-month-old baby at 2am.
The first episode of the new series had its lowest audience for the show to date — about two million —although I daresay more will be watching on iPlayer. Why they would, I'm not so sure.
A half decent idea — boy gives girlfriend one of those certificates supposedly bestowing ownership of a star and, guess what, she actually does come to own it, sort of — deliquesces into boredom because the plot contains no real menace or tension. It is all played for laughs and the chance for Davies to belabour us with his incel obsessions. The Doctor, played by Ncuti Gatwa, jumps around like a Blue Peter presenter on crystal meth, but to no great avail.
I remember being mesmerised and terrified by this show as a kid, but what children could possibly be so affected today when the scriptwriter can't take his own story seriously?
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- APA 6th ed.: Liddle, Rod (2025-04-20). Sci-fi week has left me a zombie. The Sunday Times p. Culture, p. 12.
- MLA 7th ed.: Liddle, Rod. "Sci-fi week has left me a zombie." The Sunday Times [add city] 2025-04-20, Culture, p. 12. Print.
- Chicago 15th ed.: Liddle, Rod. "Sci-fi week has left me a zombie." The Sunday Times, edition, sec., 2025-04-20
- Turabian: Liddle, Rod. "Sci-fi week has left me a zombie." The Sunday Times, 2025-04-20, section, Culture, p. 12 edition.
- Wikipedia (this article): <ref>{{cite news| title=Sci-fi week has left me a zombie | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Sci-fi_week_has_left_me_a_zombie | work=The Sunday Times | pages=Culture, p. 12 | date=2025-04-20 | via=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=12 July 2026 }}</ref>
- Wikipedia (this page): <ref>{{cite web | title=Sci-fi week has left me a zombie | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Sci-fi_week_has_left_me_a_zombie | work=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=12 July 2026}}</ref>
