Doctor Who - Knock Knock had an overnight viewing audience of 4.32 million viewers, a share of 24.9% of the total TV audience, according to unofficial figures. Doctor Who increased its audience by half a million from the previous week.

Top for the day was once more the ITV variety show Britain's Got Talent with 9.35 million viewers. Doctor Who was top for BBC One for the evening, with Pointless Celebrities getting 4.20 million watching, while Casualty managed 4.02 million.

The BBC have released a number of new publicity images to promote this week's episode of Doctor Who, Knock Knock
BBC One continues to show Doctor Who at 7;20pm, with BBC First simulcasting the episode across the Middle-East

Thin Ice: Known Broadcast Details
United Kingdom	BBC One	Sat 6 May 2017	7:20pm BST
Middle East	BBC First	Sat 6 May 2017	9:20pm AST	(Sat 7:20pm BST)
United States of America	BBC America	Sat 6 May 2017	9:00pm EDT	(Sun 2:00am BST)
Canada	SPACE	Sat 6 May 2017	9:00pm EDT	(Sun 2:00am BST)
Finland	YLE2	Sun 7 May 2017	11:00am EEST	(Sun 9:00am BST)
Australia	ABC	Sun 7 May 2017	7:40pm AEST	(Sun 10:40am BST, also on ABC ME)
Brazil	SyFy	Sun 7 May 2017	8:00pm BRT	(Sun 11:00pm BST)
Latin America	SyFy	Sun 7 May 2017	11:00pm CDT	(Mon 4:00am BST)
New Zealand	PRIME	Sun 7 May 2017	7:30pm NZST	(Mon 8:30am BST)

Press reaction for Doctor Who - Thin Ice is in with most reviewers enjoying the spisode and the performances.

Radio Times praised the story for its multi-layered structure, exploring the hidden depths in the characters. "Sarah Dollard accomplishes this beautifully in Thin Ice. She wipes away a dusting of frost to give us a window into the Doctor’s soul and examines his moral code; the ideals he aspires to and the crimes and misdemeanors he’s prepared to indulge."

The Mirror enjoyed the period nature of the show. "Any time Doctor Who dips a toe into period drama it really goes for it. It delivers a grand scale for the Frost Fair, with an army of extras, wonderful costumes, and sets filled with small touches that all come together to create a visually engaging 45 minutes."

The Telegraph, while enjoying the story, was disappointed by the ending and the effects. "Last week’s story, “Smile”, was let down by a rushed ending. The denouement here was almost as disappointing. Sutcliffe tried to blow up the ice for a reason that wasn’t entirely clear. When the creature swam off down the Thames to freedom, its strange scale and unconvincing appearance resembled a Fifties monster movie."

The Nerdist praises the work of writer Sarah Dollard. "With Thin Ice, we get the sense that she’s been able to explore the topics that are important to her, worth talking about, and don’t pull any punches. From the tackling of racism and classism to the moral dilemma of the Doctor being surrounded by death at all times and even being complicit, it’s all right there, and it’s refreshing.".

The writing was also praised by Ars Technica "The first two episodes struggled to dance between the mostly-excellent teacher/student friendship and somewhat inconsistent sci-fi plot lines. Thin Ice, however, skates through with ease. Writer Sarah Dollard—whose debut episode, Face the Raven, "killed off" Clara last season—ably steers the whole thing through a (Moby Dick)ensian world."

Digital Spy called the episode a fun romp with hidden depths. "Not only is the scenery of 'Thin Ice' visually rich, with circus folk and an elephant milling about on a frozen river, but there's also something innately odd about it. In other words, it's the perfect backdrop for one of this show's twisted trips into the past."

While Den of Geek looked at the various elements in the story. "There’s a bubbling racial and slavery subtext to the episode, and just when you think it’s going to stay there, Sarah Dollard brings it furiously to the surface."

Inverse.com looked at the relationship between The Doctor and the Companion. "Unlike more recent seasons of Doctor Who, this episode went out of its way to establish that the Last of the Time Lords himself feels like he works for the people of Earth. He calls Bill “boss” at the end of the episode and in a pivotal moment says “I serve at the pleasure of the human race.”

Screen Rant also investigated the impact of the new companion on the series. "Bill will be the first companion who is a product of Capaldi’s sometimes brusque but no less compassionate Doctor. As such, his actions at the beginning of their time together will forever shape Bill’s impression of the two-hearted alien moving forward, regardless the form he takes when it’s time to regenerate at the end of the season."

IGN looked at the structure of the story. "This third episode follows the pattern established by the previous two installments with a one-off adventure that feels in some ways like old-school Who. Here, as Bill wades deeper into the exciting insanity of the Doctor’s lifestyle, she also realizes that it’s not all fun and games and stealing pies. Ah yes, the life lessons of a companion."

AV Club admired the shift between serious and comic elements in the story. "Such sudden shifts between light and dark could undermine both aspects of the episode, but Dollard’s script is nimble enough to make keeping the audience off-balance into an asset. That can only work if the actors are confident enough in their performances to serve as an anchor for the various tones, and Capaldi and Mackie prove up to the challenge."

Finally Games Radar thinks this type of story is what Doctor Who was made for. "Unflinching storytelling at its finest, Thin Ice doesn’t shy away from the historical difficulties of taking a black companion to the 19th century. Pearl Mackie’s performance is fantastic from the get-go"

Our own review can be found in our Reviews section.

Doctor Who - Thin Ice had an overnight viewing audience of 3.76 million viewers, a share of 20.4% of the total TV audience, according to unofficial figures.

Top for the day was ITV's Britains's Got Talent, which had 8.27 million watching. Top on BBC One was the comedy series All Round to Mrs Brown's with 4.74 million viewers. Casualty just edged ahead of Doctor Who with 3.90 million, pushing Doctor Who into fourth place for the day, just ahead of Pointless Celebrities which had 3.73 million.

Final figures will be released next week, which should see Doctor Who increase its audience substantially.

Thin Ice: Known Broadcast Details
United Kingdom	BBC One	Sat 29 Apr 2017	7:20pm BST
Middle East	BBC First	Sat 29 Apr 2017	9:20pm AST	(Sat 7:20pm BST)
United States of America	BBC America	Sat 29 Apr 2017	9:00pm EDT	(Sun 2:00am BST)
Canada	SPACE	Sat 29 Apr 2017	9:00pm EDT	(Sun 2:00am BST)
Finland	YLE2	Sun 30 Apr 2017	11:00am EEST	(Sun 9:00am BST)
Australia	ABC	Sun 30 Apr 2017	7:40pm AEST	(Sun 10:40am BST, also on ABC ME)
Brazil	SyFy	Sun 30 Apr 2017	8:00pm BRT	(Sun 11:00pm BST)
Latin America	SyFy	Sun 30 Apr 2017	11:00pm CDT	(Mon 4:00am BST)
New Zealand	PRIME	Sun 30 Apr 2017	7:30pm NZST	(Mon 8:30am BST)
Denmark	DR3	Sat 13 May 2017	8:00pm CEST	(Sat 7:00pm BST)

An excellent adventure is how The Telegraph describes the second in this year's series of Doctor Who, Smile. The paper is a big fan of new companion Bill, played by Pearl Mackie, who they say is settling in beautifully. "The especially effective thing with Bill is that she asks the questions that a viewer might well ask. Why are the Tardis seats so far away from the console? Why have you got two hearts? Does that mean you’ve got really high blood pressure? How are you allowed to blow stuff up and not get into trouble? Fair points, all of them."

Digital Spy agrees that Capaldi and Mackie are an all-time great TARDIS team. "In her second week, new companion Bill continues to inject fresh energy into Doctor Who, and into the Doctor himself. She stands out from the pack just by virtue of acting and speaking like a real person, and there's great value, both comic and dramatic, in having her ask the type of questions that you or I would if we ever jumped aboard the TARDIS."

Ars Technica praises the dialogue. "The almost rhythmic dialogue in the script for Smile, written by Frank Cottrell-Boyce, who penned In the Forest of the Night for series 8 of the sci-fi drama, helps the viewer become better acquainted with Bill, following Mackie's terrific character debut"

The Nerdist also praises Mackie's performance. "Smile kept the Bill Potts train a-rolling. She’s truly a breath of fresh air; a fun and funny companion who is incredibly passionate about learning, gets giddy when visiting new places, and reacts–as the Doctor said in “The Pilot”–with a smile when she’s confused rather than with frustration."

Screen Rant also looks at the two main characters. "Smile is the perfect way to explore the two characters’ burgeoning relationship, by placing Bill’s wide-eyed wonder front and center with a fittingly dark discovery about humankind’s first colony being undone by some robots that communicate solely through, you guessed it, emoji."

It was not all praise though with The Mirror feeling the episode didn't reach it's full potential and the story lacked punch. "I was really excited about the concept of the Emojibots. Robots that murder you if they think you're unhappy. It should have been up there with Weeping Angels who attack when you blink. But once the episode has set the premise, we're not given any more depth to this idea. Sadly, not exploring the main concept of the Emojibots pushed the episode away from great and delved close to the border of mediocre."

Radio Times also felt the episode was devoid of real emotional investment. "Fatally, for a tale that toys with emojis, there are few convincing reactions on display. Situations force the cast to go through the motions of emotions. There’s no one to root for and, as a viewer, I make no emotional investment. Smile presents interesting ideas but, as drama, is as bland and insipid as emojis themselves. "

Games Radar also felt the episode lacked something."The problem is that the episode can’t decide whether it wants to figure out why people who don’t smile were murdered, or focus on action sequences about emoji robots and their floating swarms of killer nano-robots. Pick one and stick to it."

Cater Matt felt the story was solid. "Smile is a story about collaboration, and also one about treating people and things that are different from you as the same. Maybe there is a political message here, as well. While there was no great moment of emotional fervor, The Doctor did kick off a new civilization with Bill at his side. A very satisfying episode in the end."

IGN liked the message of the story. "That the Doctor is only able to save the colonists by realizing that he also has to save the emoji-bots is the real twist of this story, and also where the lesson comes in about how we in the here and now need to learn to recognize the needs of those around us, and respect those needs, and work together in order to not have to flee a decimated Earth a few decades or centuries from now"

AV Club returns to dynamic of the TARDIS team. "This is an episode that begins better than it ends, which is never the optimal arrangement. But ah well: The Doctor and Bill’s growing friendship and Bill’s character in particular are the real joys of “Smile,” and they are likely what will linger in the memory more when looking back on the season as a whole."

Doctor Who News's review can be found in the Reviews section.

The BBC has released the synopsis for the first episode of the new series of Doctor Who.

The episode premieres on BBC One on Saturday 15th April, followed by screenings around the world.

This item contains spoilers.

Press reaction to this year's Christmas Special, The Return of Doctor Mysterio, is overwealmingly positive with most reviewers enjoying the first new Doctor Who to hit screens this year.

"The happiest, most heroic Christmas special in years" is is how The Telegraph describes the episode with much praise going to the lead actors. "Capaldi was charismatically mercurial, switching between silliness and sadness. Nardole, who could have been a mere stop-gap until new companion Bill arrives next year, worked well as an affable comic stooge – with the added ability to put his finger on the painful truth of the Doctor’s loneliness and grief"

Praise for the actors was also abundant in Radio Times who called the episode "a beautifully packaged hour of uplifting escapism". "The scenes between the Doctor and eight-year-old Grant (Logan Hoffman) are delightful, allowing Capaldi to work some grandfatherly charm and tottering eccentricity. Canadian actor Justin Chatwin looks great as both the lackadaisical nanny and rippling Ghost, while Britain’s Charity Wakefield is lovely as his Lois-Lane-alike".

A charming and funny festive special is how Digital Spy heralds the story, with much praise for the script by showrunner Steven Moffat. "It's one of the most richly comic episodes in recent memory, employing witty wordplay, great sight gags and even a joke about Pokémon Go."

The script also wins plaudits from the Los Angeles Times. "The episode plays very much to Moffat’s strengths. He has a talent for fast-paced farce, with characters going in and out of doors and portals in space and time —the episode’s central engine, the difficulties of managing a secret identity, is a classic situation-comedy situation — and for crafting banter of both the light and glancing kind and of the kind that intimates deeper feelings below."

The Guardian appreciated the move away from the traditional, overly Christmas type of episode. "There are only scant, functional references to Christmas in The Return of Doctor Mysterio. Rather, it channels the classic 3.10pm movie of yore – specifically, the Richard Donner/Christopher Reeve Superman films. And for that, it ranks in my personal top five of Christmas Doctor Whos."

GamesRadar feels the episode sets the right tone from the start. "The pre-titles sequence is a charmer, establishing the wry, buoyant tone. Logan Hoffman’s winning as the young, comic-crazed Grant Gordon while the Doctor’s sniffy take on superheroes is good value, particularly the sly line where he wonders if Spider-Man’s radiation-imbued superpowers are “vomiting, hair loss, death”. That’s dark for Christmas."

Cartermatt enjoyed the comedy in the story. "Everything that we saw between The Ghost and Lucy was ridiculous, but also incredibly funny. The exchange where he was going to reveal his secret identity to her while she realized how amazing Grant was to her was amazing, especially when he chickened out of making the move when he realized that she admired Grant’s “honesty.”"

IGN is less enthusiastic about the story calling it an OK return for the Doctor. "Its most effective moments land with the few brief times when it connects to that tale or the Doctor’s past, with the rest of the superhero-themed segment feeling slightly detached and less relevant"

AV Club is also less impressed "On balance, The Return Of Doctor Mysterio is just about fine. It’s probably a lesser episode than The Husbands Of River Song, but it also has a better sense of its overall purpose than that episode did, which careened from cartoonish to tragic with minimal warning."

Nerdist appreciated the central theme of the episode. "The Return of Doctor Mysterio is exactly the kind of adventure story we need for a Christmas Day. It tells us we don’t need superpowers or a mask and cape to be heroic, and that the bravest thing you can do is speak your mind and stand up to the bullies of this world. That’s what Doctor Who is, and I for one have badly needed it."

Finally, Den of Geek was impressed by the directing. "Visually, director Ed Bazalgette is immediately on board with the style of the piece. His comic book-into-real-life opening was quite lovely, but also there’s the segment where he splits the screen. This is an old Hitchcock trick, of course, but when the Doctor starts to edge over the line of his split, then the comics aesthetic clearly came to mind too."

Our own review of the episode can be found in Doctor Who Reviews

This item Contains Plot Spoilers

The first Doctor Who Spin-off aimed at a young adult audience launched yesterday, and press reaction has generally been positive.

Digital Spy praised the script by acclaimed writer Patrick Ness. "Ness's script zips all over the place, demanding a huge emotional range from Greg Austin (Charlie), Sophie Hopkins (April), Fady Elsayed (Ram) and Vivian Oparah (Tanya) and these kids knock it out of the park, nailing every single beat."

The Telegraph felt the first episode was rather clumsy and often fell flat, but was more impressed with the second. "Things pick up in the second episode, as the script becomes more sophisticated and the true, more adult nature of the series is revealed"

Flickering Myth disagreed about the first episode "For Tonight We Might Die is quite an effective pilot in terms of establishing the core cast, and endearing them to the audience. Certainly, there’s a strong basis here for subsequent episodes to follow, with engaging character arcs being teased for each individual."

CNET felt the cast was full of Tumblr-ready ship-worthy characters."The standout is smouldering Fady Elsayed as the cocky but conflicted Ram. Meanwhile, Katherine Kelly chews the scenery as vampy teacher Miss Quill".

Den of Geek felt the episode was witty and energetic and highlighted parallels with other young adult series. "Class arrived with the following quote from Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat, “I’ve always wondered if there could be a British Buffy - it’s taken the brilliant Patrick Ness to figure out how to make it happen.”

Wales Online explores the teenage angst felt by the main characters. "One thing that becomes apparent pretty early on, is the alienation each of the main characters feel. This is exactly how I would imagine growing up in this day and age to be like. Ness, incidentally, deals with the whole idea of time and space really well."

You can read the Doctor Who News review in our reviews section.

Big Finish have announced that their licence to produce Doctor Who and Torchwood audio dramas has been extended to 2025.

Head of Audio Publishing at BBC Worldwide, Jan Paterson said:
Big Finish's Executive Producer, Jason Haigh-Ellery, said:
Nicholas Briggs, who as well as Executive Producer also voices the Daleks, said:
Producer David Richardson added:


Forthcoming highlights from Big Finish include the return of David Tennant and Catherine Tate as the tenth Doctor and Donna Noble in The Tenth Doctor Adventures, and John Hurt returns as the War Doctor in another box sets, whilst the "classic" Doctors - as played Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy and Paul McGann - continue their regular adventures. Current spin-offs include Alex Kingston as archaeologist River Song, Jemma Redgrave and Ingrid Oliver as Kate Stewart and Osgood, and Christopher Benjamin, Trevor Baxter and Dan Starkey as Jago, Litefoot and Strax.