Australian ratings for The Beast Below

The Beast Below has debuted in Australia to very respectable ratings. TV Tonight reports that the episode averaged 851,000 viewers in the five major capital cities, despite stiff competition from the commercial networks. Again it was the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's top-rating program of the day, rating higher than its popular Sunday 7pm news (By comparison, the mini-series Burn Up only rated 367,000 viewers for the ABC in the following 8.30pm timeslot). The corresponding Confidential Cutdown also rated a respectable 536,000 viewers in the five major capitals.

Meanwhile in local media, Ruth Ritchie of the Sydney Morning Herald writes of The Eleventh Hour that 'a very, very young Doctor, with an almost childlike first take on his new body, is now an obvious choice to engage younger viewers. Smith already displayed an adorable alien quality in Party Animals. Our introduction to him through the eyes of Amelia Pond, a lonely little girl who hears voices through the cracks in her walls, is vintage Doctor Who. He unsuccessfully samples baked beans, bacon, yoghurt and most of the pantry in a display of adult food-spitting we've not seen since Tom Hanks in Big. After a feast of fish fingers dipped in custard, Smith's Doctor Who takes us on a wild and witty science-fiction ride.' The Sunshine Coast Daily also features an interview with Matt Smith where he indicates he might visit Australia next year. No incumbent Doctor has visited Australia since Peter Davison in 1983.