Doctor Who - Extremis achieved an overnight viewing audience of 4.16 million viewers, a share of 22.7% of the total TV audience, according to unofficial figures. This figure is up on last week's, where Oxygen achieved 3.57m (20%).
The episode was third most-watched show of the day, with ITV's Britain's Got Talent as usual taking the top spot with 9.13m viewers and a whopping 44.7% share of the total television audience! Second place went to Pointless Celebrities, which was watched by 4.52m viewers (28.9% share).
Consolidated viewing figures are expected to be released by BARB on 29th May, which should see Doctor Who's figure increase.
BBC Books have announced a new hardback book for the summer to tie in with National Poetry Day:
BBC Books Publishing Director Albert DePetrillo has acquired Doctor Who: Now We Are Six Hundred, the very first collection of Time Lord verse. BBC Books have world rights, with North American rights sold to HarperCollins.
A gentle and humorous riff on the classic Now We Are Six, this is a collection of charming, funny and whimsical poems that celebrate the joys, sorrows and wonders of Time Lord life. Written by author James Goss, the book features illustrations by former Doctor Who Executive Producer Russell T Davies – his first role as an illustrator, using the comic artist skills he developed in his youth.
Albert DePetrillo says:
This is a book I’ve long wanted to publish, and James and Russell have realised the idea brilliantly, well beyond anything I’d hoped. It’s something very special, a unique gift for every Doctor Who fan. For full effect, please be sure to read these poems aloud to your friends, preferably more than once.
James Goss says:
BBC Books have carefully baited an irresistible trap to lure people into reading poetry. Russell's beautiful illustrations make this the most charming Doctor Who book there's ever been (and I'm including that magical first Doctor Who book you discovered as a child). The poems have been a delight to work on. Who could resist retelling the fiendish Daleks’ Masterplan in verse, or finding bizarre and ludicrous rhymes for monster names?
Russell T Davies says:
I’ve been drawing for Doctor Who long before I was writing it, so it was like time-travel for me, voyaging back to that young scribbler who used to cover his school desk with Daleks!
Doctor Who: Now We Are Six Hundred will be published in hardback on 14th September, two weeks before National Poetry Day on 28th September.
The BBC have announced a new game that can be played on mobile devices:
New BBC 360° mobile game lets Doctor Who fans pilot the TARDIS through the vortex
Doctor Who fans can pilot the TARDIS on its most exhilarating journey yet as it careers through the depths of the space time vortex in the BBC’s first ever 360 arcade game, Doctor Who Time Vortex 360.
Fans simply need to visit bbc.in/dw360 using their smartphone or tablet and by physically moving their mobile device through 360 degrees, they will be able to fly the TARDIS within an increasingly turbulent time vortex.
As they speed through time, players will tackle hazards and obstacles emerging from the future ahead of them, but in a unique and literal twist will sometimes need to physically turn themselves to look backwards in time in order to evade threats emerging from the past.
Jo Pearce, creative director, BBC Digital Drama, said:
The beauty of this game is that you can use your mobile phone to fly the TARDIS wherever you are. Digital innovation is at the very heart of Doctor Who – this 360 degree game allows people to navigate the TARDIS through time and space like never before.
We’ve seen a lot of innovation recently in the 360 and virtual reality space, but the majority has focused on ‘experiential’ video-based experiences. This game, however, brings together the worlds of casual, arcade-style gaming and 360/VR to create a fun Doctor Who experience that people can easily pick up and play, wherever they are.
The game is an endless runner, which gets more and more difficult the longer people play, taking them on a visually intense journey through the iconic vortex from the show's opening credits. Using the device's accelerometer, the game is controlled by physically moving around, even giving the player the ability to turn around and travel backwards in time.
Designed as a mobile-first experience for the BBC by Goodboy Digital, the game combines cutting edge HTML5 and WebGL using PixiJS v5.0 to create a breath-taking journey that works on a wide range of hardware.
The game is available to play on BBC Taster, where fans can rate the game and provide feedback.
This Wednesday Titan offers the chance to catch up with the latest adventures of both the Tenth and the Twelfth Doctor's, as well as the Torchwood Team. Tenth Doctor Year Three #5
Writer: James Peaty Artist: Warren Pleece Colourist: Hi-FI Cover A: Simon Myers Cover B: Will Brooks Cover C: Wellington Alves Cover D: Iolanda Zanfardino
The Doctor and Gabby stop off in London’s ‘silicon roundabout’, hotbed of tech development… only to find an interdimensional creature is poking holes in the fabric of reality. In order to close the breaches, the Doctor must face down some surprising echoes from his past!
Twelfth Doctor Year Three #3
Writer: George Mann Artist: Mariano Laclaustra Cover A: Wellington Alves Cover B: Photo Cover C: Simon Myers Cover D: Mark Wheatley
Brand-new adventures of the twelfth doctor starring Peter Capaldi The astounding year two team of George Mann, Rachael Stott and Mariano Laclaustra returns!
Torchwood Station Zero #4
Writer: John Barrowman, Carole Barrowman Artist: Neil Edwards Cover A: Claudia Caranfa Cover B: Photo Cover By Will Brooks Cover C: Brian Williamson
Written by Captain Jack himself - John Barrowman - and Carole Barrowman! Illustrated by Neil Edwards (Doctor Who: Four Doctors).
The BBC have released a number of new publicity images to promote this week's episode of Doctor Who, Extremis
Extremis
Writer: Steven Moffat Director: Daniel Nettheim
In the Haereticum - the Vatican’s secret library of blasphemy - there is an ancient book known only as The Veritas. Throughout history, anyone who has ever read it has immediately taken their own life. Now a new translation is online, and the danger is spreading. The Vatican appeals to the Doctor. Will he read The Veritas? But can even the Doctor survive the ultimate truth?
David Tennant And Billie Piper are reprising their roles of the Tenth Doctor and his companion Rose Tyler in three Doctor Who audio dramas from Big Finish Productions in arrangement with BBC Worldwide.
David Tennant’s Doctor, portrayed on screen from December 2005 until December 2009, returned in the 50th Anniversary special, The Day of the Doctor, with Matt Smith and Sir John Hurt in 2013, and on audio for Big Finish with Catherine Tate in 2016.
Billie Piper portrayed the Doctor’s much-loved companion Rose in 2005 and 2006, returning for a number of stories in 2008. She also appeared as The Moment – which had taken Rose’s form – in The Day of the Doctor. These new stories will be Billie’s eagerly awaited debut for Big Finish.
Executive producer Jason Haigh-Ellery says:
Getting David and Billie back together was definitely on my bucket list – two wonderful actors who created an era of Doctor Who which is so fondly remembered and brought a different aspect of the relationship between the Doctor and his companion to the fore – love, both platonic and unrequited. It’s great to have the Tenth Doctor and Rose back again!
Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor Adventures – Volume 2, will be released in November 2017. It is comprised of three hour-long full cast audio adventures.
The set opens with Attack of the Zaross by John Dorney, in which an alien invasion of Earth isn’t quite what it appears to be – Camille Coduri guest stars as Jackie Tyler.
In the second adventure, Sword of the Chevalier by Guy Adams, the Doctor and Rose arrive in Slough in 1791 and encounter Chevalier D’Eon, an enigmatic ex-spy who has lived his life as a woman. Together they must fend off alien slavers, who have come to Earth to abduct valuable humans.
Finally, in Cold Vengeance by Matt Fitton, the TARDIS arrives on Coldstar, a vast frozen food asteroid in deep space. But there is something sinister defrosting in the network of storage units… the Doctor’s old enemies the Ice Warriors! Nicholas Briggs plays Ice Lord Hasskor and Warrior Slaan.
Nicholas Briggs, who is the Voice of the Daleks on TV and for Big Finish, said
It was such a special time for me, working with Billie and David on the TV show, and it is such an honour to revisit it with them on audio.
Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor Adventures – Volume 2 is produced by David Richardson who said
We were thrilled by the response to the first volume. David Tennant and Catherine Tate were on fantastic form, and it’s so exciting to reunite David with Billie Piper, playing the Doctor and Rose together again after nine years! Their time in the series transformed Doctor Who into a prime-time and international hit, and we’ve worked very hard to live up to the incredible standards of Russell T Davies.
Special Preview of the Tenth Doctor and Rose
Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor Adventures – Volume 2 will be available in both a Limited Edition Deluxe box set, and as three individual vanilla releases.
Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor Adventures – Volume 1, starring David Tennant and Catherine Tate, is currently available on CD and download. For the next 24 hours it will be available at half price from the Big Finish website.
Official figures released by the Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board or BARB, give Doctor Who - Knock Knock an official rating of 5.73 million viewers.
The rating includes all those who recorded the programme and watched it within 7 days.
Doctor Who is the 21st most watched programme for the week, and 7th most watched on BBC One
Top for the week was Britain's Got Talent on ITV with 11.51 million watching. The main soaps again did well, with Coronation Street dominating the top of the chart. Other drama's with high numbers included Little Boy Blue with 7.11 million and The Durrells with 5.81 million. Doctor Who just edged ahead of the ITV detective series Grantchester, which had 5.71 million viewers.
Doctor Who -Oxygenhad an Audience Appreciation or AI figure of 83
The Appreciation Index in an indication of how much viewers enjoyed the episode. It is based to the reactions of a selected panel of viewers, who rate the episode shortly after transmission.
83 is considered a good score, roughly similar to the scores achieved by the last series of the show,
The score was the highest for the evening on the two main channels.
Oxygenhas debuted in Australia, averaging 437,000 viewers in the five major capital cities. The story was the second highest rating ABC drama of the day and the thirteenth highest rating program of the day overall. These ratings do not include iview, regional or time-shifted viewers.
Meanwhile, including time-shifted viewers, Thin Ice averaged 553,000 consolidated viewers in the five major capital cities. With 83,000 extra viewers it wasthe fifth highest time-shifted program of the day (the highest time-shifted program had 94,000 extra viewers) and the eleventh highest rating program of the day overall. These ratings do not include iview or regional viewers.
Press reaction to this week's Doctor Who episode Oxygen is in with most reviewers enjoying the episode.
The Telegraph called the story terrific and tense. "It was suitably scary, right from that eerie 2001-meets-Alien opening scene when shadows loomed up behind poor Ellie (Katie Brayben), before Ivan (Kieran Bew) saw her helmet slowly floating past. The lurching zombie army had a real sense of menace, claiming three victims on-camera, with genuine jeopardy for Bill. "
The Mirror called the story a claustrophobic treat "Writer Jamie Mathieson has proven his worth in the Whoniverse, with previous outings including Flatline and Mummy On The Orient Express. The sense of impending doom is notched up skillfully, from cutting off the TARDIS, leaving the leads no choice but to get into the 'death suits' and jaw-dropping moments where The Doctor leaves Bill to her apparent fate not once but twice."
Digital Spy felt the episode was bloody brilliant. "it's a story told with a great deal of wit and place, is stylishly produced, and does most everything you want Doctor Who to do on a Saturday evening. From the off, returning writer Jamie Mathieson displays a real talent for economical storytelling – with a strong, evocative opening that quickly establishes its two characters, their connection and why we should care about them, then follows up with a chilling execution."
Den of Geek also liked the story "I’d argue it was as good a standalone episode of Who as we’ve had this run. Given that there’s not been a duffer, that’s no small feat or backhanded compliment, either."
Radio Times felt the story was creepy but the premise absurd. "I struggle with the central conceit that in the future, in space, oxygen will be a commodity that you pay for dearly, even with your life. It lends a wry, more literal meaning to such everyday phrases as “Save your breath” and “You’re wasting your breath”. But I don’t really believe it. "
Ars Technica gave the episode a B- "Overall, Oxygen (written by Jamie Mathieson—whose previous credits include Flatline and The Girl Who Died) is another very good episode for series 10 of Doctor Who, with a dark foreboding that ought to remind the Doctor that fear makes companions of us all."
AV Club says the episode bites off way more than it can chew feeling the story should have been spread over two episodes. "Oxygen is at its best when it is straightforward, verging on over the top—the Doctor’s line about fighting an algorithm is great, as is the immediate follow-up about how they’re fighting the suits—but there are other, subtle critiques threaded throughout the episode that pass by so quickly they don’t quite register as part of a larger message."
Doctor Who Watch again praised Peter Capaldi's acting "I thought this episode let Capaldi shine in a way we haven’t seen before. In one of his most human moments, doing something for one of the most human consequences, he still does it, despite the risk. He plays throughout this episode in a light-hearted manner most of the time, but serious when he needs to be. This episode brought out the perfect balance between personalities."
IGN had a mixed response to the story "The episode itself is not one of Season 10’s strongest outings. There’s a lot of busy work involving the spacesuits which keep the Doctor and his pals alive, but what should be the most effective dramatic moments of the segment -- Bill’s “death” and the Doctor’s being struck blind -- don’t quite land."
Screen Rant likes this year's story arc. "Framing the Doctor’s yearning for adventure and freedom with his obligation to watch over the vault is a clever way of serving the needs of the season’s mysterious overarching storyline with the recurring theme of institutions operating in bad faith."
Finally, Games Radar thought Oxygen was marvelous praising Pearl Mackie's performance as Bill. "Seeing her scream for her mum when the Doctor leaves her behind is guttural and heart-wrenching. Pearl Mackie’s acting is consistently honest, raw at times, and never, ever whimsy." Link to Doctor Who News Review
Doctor Who - Extremis achieved an overnight viewing audience of 4.16 million viewers, a share of 22.7% of the total TV audience, according to unofficial figures. This figure is up on last week's, where Oxygen achieved 3.57m (20%).
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