Christmas with the Doctor (Predict the Ratings)Bookmark and Share

Thursday, 15 December 2016 - Reported by Chuck Foster
The Doctor (Credit: BBC)Christmas Day: a time of festive presents, festive food, and festive telly!

For us, of course, the placement of the annual Doctor Who Christmas Special in the schedules is always eagerly anticipated, with this year's episode slotted into the late afternoon/early evening slot of 5:45pm. Previous years have seen it as early as 5:15pm last year to 7:30pm in 2013, but this year it is (hopefully!) bolstered by two of the BBC's other highest rated programmes, The Great British Bake-Off beforehand and Strictly Come Dancing afterwards.

In terms of direct competition, ITV is serving up its traditional slice of country life in Emmerdale, and Sky One is premiering its heavily trailed The Last Dragonslayer; on other channels BBC2 has the 1976 Morecambe and Wise Christmas Show (5:40pm), Channel 4 has We're Going On A Bear Hunt and the film Home Alone (from 6pm), Channel 5 has Singin' in the Rain and then a repeat of Britain's Favourite Christmas Songs (from 6:15pm).

As of today, the odds of Doctor Who making the top spot sits at 22/1; unsurprisingly, Mrs Brown's Boys leads the way, being it has been the most popular show three out of the last four years (only beaten into second place last year by the finale of Downton Abbey!).

               BBC1                                       ITV     
3:00pm 16/1 The Queen 40/1 The Queen
3:10pm 9/1 Frozen 46/1 The Lion King
4:45pm 5/1 The Great Christmas Bake Off
4:55pm ITV News
5:15pm 66/1 You've Been Framed
5:45pm 22/1 Doctor Who 60/1 Emmerdale
6:45pm 2/1 Strictly Come Dancing 50/1 For the Love of Dogs
7:45pm ITV News
8:00pm 6/1 Call the Midwife 25/1 Coronation Street
9:00pm 25/1 Maigret's Dead Man
9:30pm 8/1 Eastenders
10:30pm 2/1 Mrs Brown's Boys
11:00pm 100/1 The Best of Tracey Ullman's Show 100/1 Love Actually

Predict the Ratings Competition


It's also time for our 'legendary' Predict the Ratings competition, which this year will give readers the chance to win The Return of Doctor Mysterio on DVD/Bluray upon its release, plus a copy of the BBC Book The Whoniverse by Justin Richards and George Mann.

As always, the aim is to predict the final consolidated viewing figure for The Return of Doctor Mysterio as reported by BARB, to the nearest 10,000 viewers (i.e. two decimal places). In addition, we'd like you to predict Doctor Who's position in the weekly chart (which will be used in the case of a tie-break).



The ratings and positions for 2014 and 2015 are presented here for comparison - recent years have seen a decline in television viewing over Christmas Day, with none of the programmes achieving the heady heights of several years ago.

To enter our competition, please send the following details to comp-ratings@doctorwhonews.net:
  • Your name and preferred email address
  • Your country of entry (full details will be requested only if you are the winner)
  • Your guess at the final viewing figure to the nearest 10,000 (eg.9.99m)
  • Your guess at the final position in the chart (eg. 1st) - this will only be used in the event of a tie-break
Terms and Conditions:
  • The competition closes at 08:30 GMT, 26th December 2016.
  • Only one entry will be accepted per person.
  • The competition is open worldwide.
  • BARB final figures are expected in early 2016; we will contact the winner once they have been published.

Superheroes around the World unite...


Of course it isn't just the United Kingdom that will enjoy the Doctor's latest adventure this festive period, as the episode will be broadcast in a number of countries within a couple of days of the British premiere:

The Return of Doctor Mysterio: known first broadcast details
United KingdomBBC OneSun 25 Dec 20165:45pm GMT
Middle EastBBC FirstSun 25 Dec 20168:45pm AST(5:45pm GMT) simulcast!
Australia (online)ABC iViewMon 26 Dec 20165:45am AEDT(6:45pm GMT)
BrazilSyfySun 25 Dec 201610:30pm BRST(12:30am GMT)
United States of AmericaBBC AmericaSun 25 Dec 20169:00pm EST(2:00am GMT)
CanadaSPACESun 25 Dec 20169:00pm EST(2:00am GMT)
Latin AmericaSyfySun 25 Dec 201610:00pm CST(04:00am GMT)
New ZealandPrimeMon 26 Dec 20167:30pm NZDT(6:30am GMT)
AustraliaABCMon 26 Dec 20167:30pm AEDT(8:30am GMT) also on ABC ME
FinlandYLE TV2Mon 26 Dec 20167:00pm EET(5:00pm GMT)
South AfricaBBC FirstWed 27 Dec 20168:00pm SAST(6:00pm GMT)
United KingdomBBC TwoFri 30 Dec 20162:30am GMT(British Sign Language)

As well as television, The Return of Doctor Mysterio will also get big screen outings in Australia (26th December), New Zealand (26th December), Denmark (26th and 28th December), Canada (26th and 28th December), and the United States (27th and 29th December).

Various channels will celebrate the series during the next couple of weeks. BBC America kick off a mammoth repeat run dominating the channel from Tuesday 20th December, showing the majority of episodes since David Tennant took over the role in the lead up to the Christmas Special (and also including the premiere broadcast of The Power of the Daleks in colour on Christmas Day!). On Christmas Eve/Christmas Day, BBC Prime in Latin America will show the two series starring Peter Capaldi, whilst Prime in New Zealand repeat the most recent series. On Christmas Day, SPACE in Canada will show preceeding Christmas adventures. BBC HD in Poland doesn't have Mysterio scheduled for the immediate future, but will be running through the Doctor's regular adventures from Rose on the 23rd December through to the New Year.

Readers can always keep up with the ongoing adventures of the Doctor (and pals!) via This Week in Doctor Who.




FILTER: - Betting/Odds - Broadcasting - Cinema - Competitions - International Broadcasting - Ratings - Series Specials - UK