Doctor Who: Ratings for finale “Empire of Death” announced overnight

The Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) and Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson) battled their immortal enemy Sutekh (Gabriel Woolf) in the dramatic final episode of Season 14, with some help from UNIT and returning classic companion Melanie Bush (Bonnie Langford).

The episode was watched by 2.25 million people on BBC One overnight.

As always, it must be pointed out that this is not the full story, as it does not include viewers who tuned in via BBC iPlayer from midnight.

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Throughout the series’ run, episodes were released on BBC iPlayer every Saturday at midnight, meaning many viewers had already seen the episodes before they premiered on television that evening.

Consolidated numbers hovered around the 4 million mark for most of the season, and Empire of Death’s full seven-day viewership figures will be announced in due course.

In “Empire of Death,” the Doctor and his team defeated Sutekh after the immortal god brought death to space and time.

Although the mysteries of the entire season, including the identity of Ruby’s mother, were solved, some questions still remained unanswered for fans, such as who Anita Dobson’s character Mrs. Flood actually is.

Dobson stole the show at the end of the episode when Mrs. Flood, wrapped in a fur coat and holding an umbrella to protect herself from the snow on the roof of Ruby’s building, delivered a dire warning directly to the camera.

At the end of the episode, she broke the fourth wall once again and said: “And so ends the story of The Church on Ruby Road. With a very happy ending for little Ruby Sunday.”

“But life goes on, doesn’t it? Relentlessly. And what happens, you may ask. Oh, what happens to that mysterious traveller through time and space known as the Doctor? I’m sorry to say his story ends in absolute terror. Goodnight!”

Speaking to RadioTimes.com recently, Dobson explained: “You’ll learn more about her as time goes on.”

She added, “In fact, you learn quite a lot about her in this particular series, Season 2, which we’re filming right now. It’ll be interesting to see what people think.” Stay tuned (and stay tuned!).

Doctor Who returns to BBC One and BBC iPlayer for Christmas. Previous seasons can be streamed on BBC iPlayer.

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