The BBC have now released an introduction for the forthcoming fourth episode of Doctor Who, The Doctor's Wife, featuring Karen Gillan, Arthur Darvill, and writer Neil Gaiman:


There are also two new preview clips to whet appetites for the story, alongside the "Next Time" trailer, plus the television trailer for BBC America's broadcast later in the evening:

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The Doctor's Wife will premiere on BBC1/BBC1HD at 6:30pm, 14th May in the United Kingdom; then follows on SPACE in Canada at 8:00pm ET, BBC America in the United States at 9:00pm ET, and on ABC1 in Australia at 7:30pm on the 21st May.


 

6.2 million watched episode three of Doctor Who: The Curse of the Black Spot, according to unofficial overnight figures.

Figures across the board were up on the previous week with Britain's Got Talent once more winning the day with 10.4 million watching. Doctor Who had an overnight share of 30.5% of the total audience, almost the same as last week.

The programme was 1.6 million ahead of the third placed Casualty. When Doctor Who finished, the BBC One audience dropped from 6.7 million to 3.3 million viewers. Against the Doctor, New People Do the Funniest Things on ITV1 had an average 2.8 million watching. Don't Scare the Hare, the lead in to Doctor Who had 2.3 million watching.

Doctor Who is now the 18th most watched programme of the week. Final figures, which are likely to see a much higher chart placing, will be released next week.

On BBC Three, Doctor Who Confidential was helped by the loss of the gap between the end of Doctor Who and the start of the follow up programme, and got 0.64 million viewers, up 80% on last week.

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Meanwhile in Australia episode Two, Day of the Moon, was the fifth watched programme of the day with around 0.90 million viewers in the five capital cities. The rating is slightly up on the previous week. It was only outranked by news programmes and Australia’s Funniest Home Videos on Channel 9.

Doctor Who is once more dominating the iPlayer downloads with episode one of the new series, The Impossible Astronaut, being accessed over 1.5 million times in the 12 days following transmission.

The figure is nearly three times higher than any other programme available on the iPlayer over the same period. In the first week after transmission 1.38 million accessed the programme, this compares with the 1.27 million who accessed last year's series opener, The Eleventh Hour, over the same period. The Eleventh Hour went on to become the most downloaded programme ever, a title it still holds, but a title that may be under threat if The Impossible Astronaut continues to attract such attention on the iPlayer.

The second in the series, Day of the Moon, had been accessed over 1.07 million times in the four days it has been available. It has eclipsed The Royal Wedding Service which has been downloaded 0.62 million times since Friday.

As part of the run-up to this week's episode of Doctor Who, The Curse of the Black Spot, the BBC have released an introduction to the tale, featuring head writer Steven Moffat and guest star Hugh Bonneville:

The BBC have released details for Week 21, which includes the synopsis for the fifth episode of the series, The Rebel Flesh; this is due to be broadcast on BBC1/BBC1HD on Saturday 21st May, with the time of broadcast yet to be confirmed.


 

The BBC have released two previews for this week's episode, The Curse of the Black Spot, which will be broadcast on BBC1/BBC1HD this coming Saturday at 6:15pm


The BBC have also released an interview with guest star Hugh Bonneville, who plays Captain Avery in the episode:


You can also watch the "Next Time" trailers for the episode via our previous article.

BBC One is to change its Saturday line up from 14th May, switching Doctor Who and So You Think You Can Dance Live meaning episode four of Doctor Who, The Doctor's Wife, is now scheduled for broadcast at 6.30pm.

The change, which will please many fans, is seen as a vote of confidence in the show, which has been the only BBC One programme achieving strong ratings on Saturday evenings.

Doctor Who will follow the live dance show which also sees its results programme being moved to Sunday for this week. The previous Doctor Who lead in, Don't Scare the Hare, which has been getting poor ratings and appalling AI figures, has been moved to before the early evening news. The Eurovision Song Contest Final is at 8pm.

Doctor Who will now face New Animals Do the Funniest Things and Sing if You Can on ITV1. BBC Two will be showing an evening of programmes dedicated to the late comedy writer John Sullivan.

Barb have now issued final ratings for the week ending 24 April making Doctor Who: The Impossible Astronaut the 6th most watched programme of the week.

The chart is dominated by soaps with Lewis in 19th place and The Reckoning at 20th the only other non soap dramas to make the top 20.

The overnight chart saw the show in 13th place, the rise being due to the large number of people who record Doctor Who for viewing later in the week.

The Impossible Astronaut becomes the 44th episode of Doctor Who to achieve a top ten place. It is a higher chart placing than any other season premier in the show's history, apart from the Eleventh Doctor's first episode, The Eleventh Hour, which was 3rd.

Out of 771 Doctor Who episodes broadcast, only 13 have achieved a higher chart placing.

New Zealand have finally found out when the new series of Doctor Who will arrive!

Broadcaster Prime TV have reported via Twitter that they will premiere The Impossible Astronaut on the channel on Thursday 19th May at 8.30pm.

Prime have a dedicated Doctor Who section on their website.

(with thanks to the New Zealand Doctor Who Fan Club)

Episode Two of the current series of Doctor Who, Day of the Moon, scored an Appreciation Index figure of 87, once again one of the highest figures of the weekend and putting the programme firmly into the excellent category.

The Appreciation Index, or AI is a measure of how much the audience enjoyed the programme. It is a score out of 100 based on responses from a 5,000 strong panel.

On BBC Three an additional 0.54 million viewers caught the Sunday repeat with 0.07 million watching on BBC HD.

Overall, with Sunday's figures now available, Doctor Who currently stands at 37th for the week, a position that should rise substantially when final figures are released next Monday.