{"id":29298,"date":"2023-11-20T09:30:45","date_gmt":"2023-11-20T14:30:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.monsffa.ca\/?p=29298"},"modified":"2023-11-20T09:30:45","modified_gmt":"2023-11-20T14:30:45","slug":"when-doctor-whos-daleks-beat-the-beatles-in-tv-ratings-battle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.monsffa.ca\/?p=29298","title":{"rendered":"When Doctor Who&#8217;s Daleks beat The Beatles in TV ratings battle"},"content":{"rendered":"<section class=\"sc-189fa0a-0 erYWTd\" data-component=\"headline-block\">\n<h4 class=\"sc-82e6a0ec-0 dAwEws\">When Doctor Who&#8217;s Daleks beat The Beatles in TV ratings battle<\/h4>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"sc-189fa0a-0 exepft\" data-component=\"timestamp-block\">\n<div class=\"sc-26840bd1-0 jJuIKe\" data-testid=\"timestamp\">\n<div class=\"sc-26840bd1-1 cqXZYv\"><time class=\"sc-26840bd1-3 kLqiKq\">November 20, 2023 at 08:45 a.m. EST<\/time><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"sc-189fa0a-0 insmih\" data-component=\"byline-block\">\n<div class=\"sc-fa919c5a-0 dSnXMh\" data-testid=\"byline\">\n<div class=\"sc-fa919c5a-1 eMIbcO\"><span class=\"sc-fa919c5a-3 gxFmLC\" data-testid=\"byline-name\">By Peter Shuttleworth<\/span><span class=\"sc-fa919c5a-4 eoTdTx\" data-testid=\"byline-role\">BBC News<\/span><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><a href=\"http:\/\/www.monsffa.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Daleks-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone  wp-image-29301\" src=\"http:\/\/www.monsffa.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Daleks-1-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"481\" height=\"271\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.monsffa.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Daleks-1-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.monsffa.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Daleks-1-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.monsffa.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Daleks-1.jpg 976w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 481px) 100vw, 481px\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"sc-189fa0a-0 dSVUgp\" data-component=\"image-block\">\n<div class=\"sc-80c300f3-0 Aoslt\" data-testid=\"hero-image\"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/976\/cpsprodpb\/D101\/production\/_131750535_king_get.jpg.webp\" media=\"(min-width:1008px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/624\/cpsprodpb\/D101\/production\/_131750535_king_get.jpg.webp\" media=\"(min-width:600px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/D101\/production\/_131750535_king_get.jpg.webp\" media=\"(min-width:400px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/320\/cpsprodpb\/D101\/production\/_131750535_king_get.jpg.webp\" media=\"(min-width:0px)\" \/><\/picture><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"sc-189fa0a-0 insmih\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<p class=\"sc-e1853509-0 fuOouF\"><b class=\"sc-ed73b9f2-0 jhhdRT\">For The Beatles it must have been a hard day&#8217;s night, but such was Dalek-mania, the robot mutants helped Doctor Who exterminate the Fab Four in one of the first major TV ratings battles.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"sc-189fa0a-0 insmih\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<p class=\"sc-e1853509-0 fuOouF\">Beatlemania was just kicking in and the 1960s were in full swing, yet it was The Doctor and his nemesis the Daleks on top of the 1964 Christmas TV charts.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"sc-189fa0a-0 insmih\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<p class=\"sc-e1853509-0 fuOouF\">Now as The Doctor prepares for a 60th birthday, many feel those Daleks are behind his record-breaking longevity.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"sc-189fa0a-0 insmih\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<p class=\"sc-e1853509-0 fuOouF\">Some say they even saved the doctor.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"sc-189fa0a-0 insmih\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<p class=\"sc-e1853509-0 fuOouF\">&#8220;Doctor Who was in very strong danger of being cancelled just weeks after it started,&#8221; recalled cultural historian Alwyn Turner.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"sc-189fa0a-0 insmih\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<p class=\"sc-e1853509-0 fuOouF\">But one wannabe comedian conjured up a fictional extra-terrestrial race of xenophobic mutants who saved the show from early extermination &#8211; and within a year of the first episode in 1963, Doctor Who was big enough to take on The Beatles.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"sc-189fa0a-0 insmih\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<p class=\"sc-e1853509-0 fuOouF\">&#8220;Doctor Who was originally scheduled to run for 52 weeks but after the first storyline, viewing figures were lower than expected,&#8221; said Turner.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"sc-189fa0a-0 bIAPoG\" data-component=\"image-block\">\n<div class=\"sc-80c300f3-0 Aoslt\" data-testid=\"image\"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/976\/cpsprodpb\/0233\/production\/_131736500_firstdaleks_bbc.jpg.webp\" media=\"(min-width:1008px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/624\/cpsprodpb\/0233\/production\/_131736500_firstdaleks_bbc.jpg.webp\" media=\"(min-width:600px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/0233\/production\/_131736500_firstdaleks_bbc.jpg.webp\" media=\"(min-width:400px)\" \/><\/picture><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"sc-189fa0a-0 insmih\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<p class=\"sc-e1853509-0 fuOouF\">&#8220;Many had the knives out, thinking &#8216;this isn&#8217;t going to last the 52 weeks, let alone the 60 years&#8217;.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"sc-189fa0a-0 insmih\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<p class=\"sc-e1853509-0 fuOouF\">What saved the show was comedy writer Terry Nation, who had worked with comic legends like Spike Milligan, Eric Sykes and Tony Hancock &#8211; and prescribed what the doctor ordered by accident.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/uk-wales-67417109\">READ MORE<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When Doctor Who&#8217;s Daleks beat The Beatles in TV ratings battle November 20, 2023 at 08:45 a.m. EST By Peter ShuttleworthBBC News For The Beatles it must have been a hard day&#8217;s night, but such was Dalek-mania, the robot mutants helped Doctor Who exterminate the Fab Four in one of the first major TV ratings &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.monsffa.ca\/?p=29298\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">When Doctor Who&#8217;s Daleks beat The Beatles in TV ratings battle<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":645,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[199],"tags":[1737,1736,183],"class_list":["post-29298","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-television","tag-beatles","tag-daleks","tag-dr-who"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monsffa.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29298","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monsffa.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monsffa.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsffa.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/645"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsffa.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=29298"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsffa.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29298\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29303,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsffa.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29298\/revisions\/29303"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monsffa.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=29298"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsffa.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=29298"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsffa.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=29298"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}