The Next Doctor - official ratings

The Next Doctor was watched by 13.1 million viewers on Christmas Day, according to official figures issued byBARB. The final figure is much larger than the initial overnight ratings, and includes those who recorded the programme and watched it within one week. The figure puts Doctor Who as the number two programme of the week, the third episode running to make the top two.

The high rating makes Doctor Who the fifth most watched programme of 2008, beating every episode of EastEnders and Coronation Street shown during the year. It was the highest rated drama of 2008. The top programme of the year was Wallace and Gromit: A Matter of Loaf and Death, co-written by K9 co-creator Bob Baker, with 16.15 million watching. The only other programmes to beat Doctor Who last year were The X Factor and the final of Britain's Got Talent.

The Next Doctor has the ninth highest rating in the series' 45 year history, a remarkable achievement seeing that for much of its life Doctor Who only faced opposition from ITV and BBC2.