The second episode of Doctor Who‘s 15th season suffered a fairly substantial drop in ratings – with just 1.58 million viewers tuning in to watch Lux on BBC One last night (Saturday 19th April).
That’s down from the 2 million who watched last week’s season premiere The Robot Revolution and marks the lowest overnight viewership ratings in the show’s history, the first time ever that the figures have dipped below 2 million.
Of course, it’s worth noting that these figures don’t tell the whole story, given the figure doesn’t take into account anyone who watched the episode on BBC iPlayer, where it debuted at 8am on Saturday prior to its BBC One broadcast.
The consolidated ratings, which include iPlayer, devices and catch-up, will be released at a later date.
Newsletter: Doctor WhoTitle: Get Doctor Who newsletters direct to your inbox from our award-winning editorial teamDescription: For details on how we use your data, please see our privacy policy.Layout: horizontalEnvironment: live-likeLogged In Body Copy: Sign up for the latest Who news, reviews, interviews and featuresLogged In Success Message: Thanks, you are now signed up to our Doctor Who newsletter! We look forward to sending you our email updates.Logged In Preferences Hyperlink Text: To manage your email preferences, click here.Logged Out Body Copy: Sign up for the latest Who news, reviews, interviews and featuresLogged Out Success Message: Thanks, you are now signed up to our Doctor Who newsletter! We look forward to sending you our email updates.Logged Out Sign In Message: Sign in to/ register for a RadioTimes.com account to manage your email preferencesStill, the figures are not especially encouraging news – especially when we consider that the same release pattern was in action last year and the figure never dropped below 2 million.
In total, the episode was only the fourth most watched programme on BBC One on Saturday, behind News at Ten, Casualty and Blankety Blank.
Meanwhile, Britain’s Got Talent – its direct competition on ITV1 – also received substantially more viewers.
However, it’s not all bad news, given that those who did watch the show appear to have been largely impressed by the episode – and its unique animated villain Mr Ring-a-Ding (who was voiced by Alan Cumming).
[image id="2252892" size="full" title="Cartoon Belinda Chandra (Varada Sethu) and the Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) in Doctor Who episode Lux" alt="Cartoon Belinda Chandra (Varada Sethu) and the Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) in Doctor Who episode Lux" classes=""] Cartoon Belinda Chandra (Varada Sethu) and the Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) in Doctor Who episode Lux.“The artists did such a great job with Mr Ring-a-Ding, he has so many amazing images,” one fan wrote on X (formerly Twitter), adding: “Each frame is perfect.”
Another Whovian wrote: “Have to say, this was one of the most satisfying resolutions to an episode for a very long time. I can’t praise Lux enough.”
And a third fan went ever further, calling it “hands down the best episode of the new era” and giving it a rating of 9.5 out of 10.
They continued: “Bonkers concept, stunning visuals, and the Doctor and Belinda’s chemistry continues to be brilliant. This is Doctor Who firing on all cylinders: wild, clever, and totally unique.”
‘Lux’ is the hands down the best episode of the new era. Bonkers concept, stunning visuals, and the Doctor and Belinda’s chemistry continues to be brilliant. This is Doctor Who firing on all cylinders: wild, clever, and totally unique. 9.5/10#DoctorWho pic.twitter.com/d7dQWWR01B
— Garrett Guymer (@GarrettGuymer04) April 19, 2025The episode saw the Doctor and Belinda arrive in Miami in 1952, where they soon find a terrifying secret hiding in an abandoned cinema in the shape of the aforementioned Mr Ring-a-Ding.
As well as Cumming, there were a few more guest appearances in the episode, with Linus Roache, Lewis Cornay and another mysterious appearance for Anita Dobson as Mrs Flood.
It will be followed next week by episode 3, The Well, which takes the TARDIS to a devastated mining colony on a tough, brutal planet in the distant future – where these is only one survivor.Doctor Who continues next Saturday (26th April) on BBC One, with new episodes available from 8am on Saturdays on BBC iPlayer in the UK. The series will be available on Disney+ outside of the UK.
Dive into our Doctor Who story guide: reviews of every episode since 1963, plus cast & crew listings, production trivia, and exclusive material from the Radio Times archive.
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