Victory of the Daleks - Trailer

Sunday, 11 April 2010 - Reported by Marcus
The BBC has released a trailer for Episode Three of the new series, Victory of the Daleks.

The episode is written by Mark Gatiss and stars Bill Paterson, Ian McNeice and Nicholas Briggs. It can be seen in the UK next Saturday at 6.30pm on BBC One and at 8.25pm on BBC HD.





FILTER: - Series 5/31 - Broadcasting

The Beast Below - Ratings

Sunday, 11 April 2010 - Reported by Marcus
Beast BelowThe Beast Below was watched by 6.7 million viewers, according to unofficial overnight figures.

The programme had an audience of 6.4 million on BBC One, with an additional 330,000 watching on BBC HD. The programme's share was 34%. Although a drop on the previous week, the programme was still the most watched of the day, beating the second-placed National Lottery by 0.8 million viewers. It is very rare for a programme placed so early in the evening to top the ratings for the day, especially on what was, wether-wise, one of the Saturdays of the year so far in the UK.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix performed the best for ITV1, with 5.7 million watching the network premiere. The FA Cup had an average of 3.3 million viewers, with a peak of 4.9 million against Doctor Who.

The highest peak of the day was between 4.15pm and 4.30pm when 7.6 million watched the Grand National horse race on BBC One.

Overall, the programme currently stands as the twelfth most-watched of the week, with Sunday's ratings still to come. A top ten place is still a possibility once the final ratings are calculated next week.

On BBC Three, Doctor Who Confidential was watched by 0.56 million viewers, a 2.7% share of the audience.





FILTER: - Ratings - UK - Series 5/31

The Time Of Angels - Press Release

Thursday, 8 April 2010 - Reported by Marcus
Victory of the DaleksThe BBC Press Office has released details of the fourth episode of the new series The Time Of Angels.

The story by Steven Moffat will air in the UK on 24th April at a provisional time of 6.25pm. Schedules will be fixed next Wednesday.

The episode sees the return of two Steven Moffat creations, The Weeping Angels from the Series Three story, Blink, and River Song played by Alex Kingston, from the Series Four stories Silence in the Library and Forest of the Dead.

The Doctor is recruited by Father Octavian to track the last of the Angels through the terrifying Maze Of The Dead.

Meanwhile, the mysterious River Song re-enters the Doctor's life – but can he trust her?




FILTER: - UK - Series 5/31 - Broadcasting

The Beast Below - Trailer

Tuesday, 6 April 2010 - Reported by Marcus
The BBC has released a trailer for Episode Two of the new series, The Beast Below.

The episode, which stars Sophie Okonedo, Terrence Hardiman, Alfie Field and Catrin Richards, can be seen in the UK next Saturday at 6.15pm on BBC One and BBC HD.





FILTER: - Series 5/31 - Broadcasting

Eleventh Hour - AI and Repeat Ratings

Monday, 5 April 2010 - Reported by Marcus
Eleventh HourThe Eleventh Hour scored an Appreciation Index score of 86 making it one of the most enjoyed programmes of the weekend.

The Appreciation Index or AI is a measure of how much an audience enjoyed a programme. Figures are based on ratings from a selected panel of 5000 people. The average score for BBC One is 80 with the average for the current Doctor Who timeslot being 82, and the average for Drama being 85.

The score is higher than previous Doctors' premieres: David Tennant's first appearance in The Christmas Invasion scored 84, and Christopher Eccleston's first story, Rose, scored 76. AI figures tend to grow throughout a series as the audience becomes familiar with the characters and the concept. Doctor Who's highest score so far was 91 for The Stolen Earth and Journey's End.

The programme was most enjoyed by female viewers who rated it significantly higher than males watching. It also scored highest in Scotland and with the 35-54 age group. Viewers generally found the programme high quality, original and different with some missing David Tennant.

Overnight figures for Sunday show nothing could approach the success of Doctor Who on Saturday, with the highest rated show being A Touch of Frost on ITV1 with 7.2 million watching. So The Eleventh Hour was the highest rated show of the Easter weekend and the eighth highest of the whole week.

The Sunday BBC Three repeat was watched by 0.67 million viewers and was the third rated show on multi-channel for Sunday.




FILTER: - Ratings - UK - Series 5/31

Eight million watch The Eleventh Hour

Sunday, 4 April 2010 - Reported by Marcus
Eleventh HourUnofficial overnight figures show The Eleventh Hour was watched by 7.7 million viewers on BBC One with another 0.3 million watching on BBC HD, giving a total audience of 8.0 million viewers.

The programme has a share of 36.8% of the total viewing audience.

The programme was by far the most watched on British television on Saturday night, beating second placed Casualty by nearly 2.5 million viewers. The BBC comprehensively ruled the night with the top six programmes and eight out of the top ten. Ant & Dec's Push the Button scored highest for ITV 1 with just 3.9 million watching while Harry Potter had an average of 2.9 million viewers.

With one day to go, Doctor Who is the 8th highest programme of the week in a top ten which, apart from Doctor Who, consists entirely of the soaps EastEnders and Coronation Street.

On BBC Three, Doctor Who Confidential was watched by 0.88 million viewers. The programme had a 4.3% share of the audience and was the second most watched multi-channel programme of the day.

Final figures will be released in about 10 days time.




FILTER: - Ratings - UK - Series 5/31

Eleventh Hour - Initial Reaction

Saturday, 3 April 2010 - Reported by Marcus
Eleventh HourThe Eleventh Hour made its debut in the United Kingdom earlier this evening and reviews of the episode are appearing online.

Warning: Some of the reviews may contain spoilers for those who haven't seen the episode.

The Telegraph says Matt Smith has taken up the mantle as the alien Time Lord perfectly, giving an A+ to the casting director and an A+ to Smith, while it describes Karen Gillan as a fine foil. The Mirror breaths a sigh of relief with the headline Phew.. a brilliant new Doctor Who saying the Beeb’s best franchise is in safe hands while The Guardian said some of the plot devices were a brilliant conceit that puts a new spin on a 50-year-old dynamic. The Mail says this was a deft first episode, packed with one-liners and an even more fantastical feel than of late, but with that old reassuring combination of intense Britishness, quirkiness and a sense of the macabre. And The Independent thinks Moffat has clearly picked the right leading man saying he is the Doctor. And he might be more the Doctor than anyone who was the Doctor before.

Fan reaction has been overwhelmingly positive with over 80% of contributors to the Gallifrey Base poll rating the episode 8/10 or more. Doctor Who and Matt Smith have both been trending topics on twitter.

To mark the transmission the BBC Doctor Who website has been updated with behind the scenes material, a clean version of the theme music and a tour of the new TARDIS interior.

Overnight ratings will be released Sunday morning and will be available on the News Page.




FILTER: - Press - Series 5/31

New Series Round Up

Friday, 2 April 2010 - Reported by Marcus
Steven Moffat has recorded a special introduction to The Eleventh Hour, which can be viewed on the official website.

In the UK, the publicty push for the new series continues with Karen Gillan appearing on GMTV and on CBBC sometime on Friday morning. BBC America viewers can catch Matt Smith's meeting with Jonathan Ross this Friday at 10pm ET.

Meanwhile the BBC Big Screen events continue at five locations around the UK until Saturday. ReelScotland has a review of the first day of the Edinburgh event.

The event includes a showing of the 3D version of the trail, which is also available on the BBC YouTube Channel. Special glasses are needed to view it in its 3D glory. Instructions on how to make a pair are available on the BBC bang goes the theory site.





FILTER: - Special Events - Series 5/31

Victory of the Daleks - Press Release

Thursday, 1 April 2010 - Reported by Marcus
The BBC Press Office has released details of the third episode of the new series Victory of the Daleks.

The story by Mark Gatiss will air in the UK on 17th April. The time is provisionally set as 6.20pm - 7.25pm, although there has been no indication that the episode is any longer than the usual 45 minutes. The extra time listed probably belongs to Casualty which is currently listed as 30 minutes long. Final schedules will be released next Wednesday.

The Doctor has been summoned by an old friend, but in the Cabinet War Rooms far below the streets of blitz-torn London, it's his oldest enemy he finds waiting for him, as the time-travelling adventures continue. The Daleks are back – but can Winston Churchill be in league with them?




FILTER: - Series 5/31 - Broadcasting

The Beast Below - Schedule

Wednesday, 31 March 2010 - Reported by Marcus
Schedules for the 10th April have now been fixed and Episode Two of the new series, The Beast Below, will be broadcast on BBC One and BBC HD at 6.15pm, one of the earliest slots in which the show has been shown since it returned in 2005.

The programme will be preceded on BBC One by All New Total Wipeout, a new series of what is described as TV's biggest, brashest, daftest game show. Doctor Who will be followed by the latest edition of the search for Dorothy in Over the Rainbow.

For the first time, Doctor Who will face opposition from FA Cup football on ITV 1 where they are showing the Semi-Final between Aston Villa and Chelsea. The last FA cup match to be shown in this timeslot was Chelsea V Stoke on 6th March, which got 3.46 million watching.

BBC Two will be showing the 2004 biopic The Aviator, charting the life of eccentric film director Howard Hughes over a 20-year period. It stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Cate Blanchett. Channel 4 will show reality series Come Dine with Me while Five has the 1994 film I Love Trouble, a romantic comedy about two rival reporters who constantly try to out-scoop each other, starring Julia Roberts and Nick Nolte.

Doctor Who Confidential is on BBC Three at 7.00pm and finds out just what makes the sinister Smilers tick as well as talking to Oscar-nominated actress Sophie Okenedo  about creating her extraordinary character. BBC HD is showing Golf: The Masters on Saturday so the HD broadcast of Confidential will be on Sunday 11th April at 6.10pm.




FILTER: - Series 5/31 - Broadcasting