Midnight - AI and Digital Ratings

Monday, 16 June 2008 - Reported by Marcus

Episode ten of series four, Midnight, scored an Appreciation Index of 86, once more putting the show firmly in the excellent category. It was the 2nd most appreciated programme on BBC1 and ITV on Saturday after Trooping the Colour.

Continuing the general run of low ratings, none of Sunday's programmes were able to beat Saturday's Doctor Who, making it the highest rated programme for the whole weekend and the 5th most watched programme of the week. This position may rise when corrected figures, including numbers for those recording the programme, are released by BARB in 9 days time.

Apart from the last Christmas special, Voyage of the Damned, which was 2nd in the weekly list, the highest chart position Doctor Who has ever previously achieved is 5th for episode two of the 1975 Tom Baker story The Ark in Space.

Sunday's BBC3 repeat got an overnight audience of 0.91 million viewers. It was a 4.5% share of the multi-channel audience and the most watched programme on all multi-channel TV for Sunday.

Saturday's edition of Doctor Who Confidential was watched by 0.52 million viewers. The programme, which had a share of 3.1 %, was the most watched on multi-channel television on Saturday.

Last Friday's repeat of Forest of the Dead got an audience of 0.35 million viewers. It was the 6th highest multi channel programme, and the highest rated on BBC3.

FILTER: - Ratings - UK - Series 4/30

New Radio Times

Monday, 16 June 2008 - Reported by Anthony Weight

The new edition of the BBC's Radio Times listings magazine, available across the UK from tomorrow, once again focuses on Doctor Who as its cover feature. The magazine published four alternative covers for its series four launch issue, and has also made the Sontarans cover stars during the current run of the programme.

The cover, a preview of which is shown below, promotes a feature by Russell T Davies, looking at the roles of the Doctor's recent companions. "The companion acts as our eyes and ears, our gateway into the Doctor’s extraordinary world," Davies tells the magazine. "The companion is there so that the kids watching at home can think, 'That could be me!' I hope the companions still make children think that's possible, to travel in time and space."

FILTER: - Magazines - Series 4/30 - Radio Times

K9 Tales - Faulty Disc - UPDATE

Monday, 16 June 2008 - Reported by Marcus

2 entertain, the company which produces the classic series DVDs, has confirmed there is an authoring error with the latest release, The Invisible Enemy, out this week as part of the K9-Tales disc set. The error is towards the end of Episode Three and causes the disc to skip part of the episode.

2 entertain will replace all faulty discs and have set up a helpline which will be active from Monday. Customers with faulty discs are advised to either emaildvd.support@bbc.co.uk (NOTE CORRECTED ADDRESS!) or call 020 7612 3186. Instructions on what to do are on the voicemail of the phone line and on the auto reply from the email.

The current DVD release schedule is listed below. Schedule is not confirmed and may change.

16 June - K9 Tales
21 July - The Brain of Morbius
18 August - Trial of a Time Lord
September - Four to Doomsday
October - The War Machines
November - Battlefield

FILTER: - UK - Classic Series - Blu-ray/DVD

Torchwood comes to BBC1

Sunday, 15 June 2008 - Reported by Jarrod Cooper

According to the latest issue of Torchwood Magazine, Executive Producer Julie Gardner has confirmed rumours that the show will move to BBC1 with a much shorter run.

The magazine reports that the third series will consist of five episodes forming one continuous story with at least one penned by Russell T. Davies.

"It's the longest and most ambitious story we have ever made, so be prepared for some shocks and surprises!" Gardner told the magazine. She added: "Life at Torchwood is never quiet or easy and the whole of Captain Jack's world is about to be turned upside down!"

The new series will begin filming in August for transmission in early 2009.

FILTER: - Torchwood - Julie Gardner

Midnight - Overnight Ratings

Sunday, 15 June 2008 - Reported by Marcus

Unofficial figures show that episode ten of Series Four,Midnight, was watched by 7.3 million viewers, giving it a 37.8% share of the total television audience.

The programme was once more the most watched of Saturday, beating the second placed Casualty by 1.5 million viewers.

ITV1's highest rated programme of the day was Euro 2008 with 3.8 million.

In a week when ratings were down across the board, Doctor Who actually increased its audience over the previous week.

As a measure of how well the programme has performed, it is currently the 5th most watched of the week, ahead of editions of Coronation Street and EastEnders. Final figures will be released by BARB in ten days time.

FILTER: - Ratings - UK - Series 4/30

John Barrowman in Canada

Sunday, 15 June 2008 - Reported by Mike Doran

John Barrowman is in Canada this summer to serve as a judge on the Canadian version of the hit BBC series How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?. The series is being broadcast by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and premieres today Sunday June 15th at 8:00pm across the country and at 8:30pm in Newfoundland.

Shows in front of a live studio audience will begin in Toronto on Sunday June 22nd. Tickets to be in the live audience are available from the CBC Maria website.

On the morning of Monday June 16th Barrowman will be appearing live on Breakfast Television on CITY TV in Toronto. Barrowman is scheduled to be on the show between 7:00am and 8:00am.

FILTER: - People - Canada

Episode Twelve Title

Friday, 13 June 2008 - Reported by Marcus

The mystery title of Episode Twelve of Season Four, has been released by the BBC Press Office.

Please don't click on the link if you want to avoid spoilers for the episode.

Thanks to Neil Matthews and Jack Martin

The Stolen Earth Ep 12/13

Saturday 28 June

Earth's greatest heroes assemble in a time of dire need, in tonight's penultimate episode in this series of Russell T Davies's Bafta Award-winning time-travelling drama. But can the Doctor's secret army defeat the might of the new Dalek Empire?

With battles on the streets and in the skies, the Doctor and Donna must brave the Shadow Proclamation to find out the truth. However, a fearsome old enemy waits in the shadows.

David Tennant plays the Doctor and Catherine Tate plays his companion, Donna Noble.

FILTER: - Production - Series 4/30

Russell T Davies awarded OBE

Friday, 13 June 2008 - Reported by Anthony Weight

Russell T Davies, the lead writer and executive producer of Doctor Who and the man who has spearheaded the revival of the programme since 2003, has been created an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire - OBE - in the Queen's Birthday Honours List. One of the highest civilian honours available to a British subject, the OBE is awarded by the Queen, on the advice of the Government, and has been given to Davies for his services to drama.

The Times quotes Davies as saying: "I'm delighted to accept, and I hope it does the whole industry a bit of good, for the writing of television drama to be recognised." Davies is the second Doctor Who producer to have been accorded the honour - the late Verity Lambert was given an OBE in 2002.

According to the Press Association, the BBC has released a statement saying: "We are delighted for Russell - he is one of this country's greatest writers and it is fantastic that his talent has been recognised in this way."

The story is covered in many other news sources, including: The Independent, The Guardian, The Scotsman and BBC News. BBC News have also published a profile of Davies.

FILTER: - People - Russell T Davies - Awards/Nominations

Doctor Who Confidential Down Under

Wednesday, 11 June 2008 - Reported by Adam Kirk

In a comment on their message board the Australian Broadcasting Corporation has revealed that it has, for the first time, purchased the Australian rights to Doctor Who Confidential and will broadcast each episode immediately after the broadcast of the corresponding episode of Series Four.

Presumably, these will be the cut down versions which will fill the 8.15-8.30pm timeslot and commence with Partners in Crime on Sunday 6 July.

The ABC has also confirmed that, as previously reported, the latest series will start on ABC1 on Sunday 29th June, 7.30pm with Voyage of the Damned.

FILTER: - Australia

Silence in the Library - Final Ratings

Wednesday, 11 June 2008 - Reported by Marcus

Final figures released by BARB give episode Eight of Series Four, Silence in the Library, an official rating of 6.27 million viewers.

The week was dominated by ITV which had 15 of the top twenty places, thanks to the runaway success ofBritain's Got Talent, the final of which is now the most watched programme of the year to date.

Doctor Who was the 27th most watched for the week on British Television and the 9th most watched on BBC Television. It is the first time the programme has dropped out of the top twenty since The Empty Childin 2005 and the lowerst position since the series returned in 2005. The rating is the lowest sinceThe Satan Pit in 2006, which got 6.1 million watching.

Some of the missing viewers watched the Sunday repeat on BBC3 which was watched by 1.35 million viewers and was the 2nd most watched programme on multi-channel for the week. To date over half a million have also watched it on the BBC iPlayer and the total reach of the programme is over 8.5 million.

The Saturday showing of Doctor Who Confidential got 0.57 million viewers making it the 31st most watched multi-channel programme. The Sunday repeat was higher in the chart with 0.63 million watching and number 24 in the chart.

Full ratings data, including data for iPlayer downloads can be found in the Doctor Who Forum.

Top Programmes w/e 1 June 2008

1 BRITAIN'S GOT TALENT FINAL RESULT (SAT 2131) - 13.88 - ITV1
2 BRITAIN'S GOT TALENT (FRI 2101) - 11.86 - ITV1
3 BRITAIN'S GOT TALENT (SAT 1849) - 11.52 - ITV1
4 BRITAIN'S GOT TALENT (MON 2100) - 11.33 - ITV1
5 BRITAIN'S GOT TALENT (THU 2030) - 10.13 - ITV1
6 BRITAIN'S GOT TALENT (WED 2031) - 10.03 - ITV1
7 CORONATION STREET (MON 2029) - 9.99 - ITV1
8 CORONATION STREET (MON 1931) - 9.89 - ITV1
9 EASTENDERS (MON 1959) - 9.38 - BBC1
10 BRITAIN'S GOT TALENT (TUE 2030) - 9.29 - ITV1
11 CORONATION STREET (WED 1929) - 9.23 - ITV1
12 CORONATION STREET (FRI 1933) - 9.09 - ITV1
13 CORONATION STREET (FRI 2029) - 8.96 - ITV1
14 EASTENDERS (FRI 2000) - 7.95 - BBC1
15 EASTENDERS (THU 1929) - 7.46 - BBC1
16 EMMERDALE (MON 1900) - 7.31 - ITV1
17 I'D DO ANYTHING - THE FINAL (SAT 2044) - 7.18 - BBC1
18 MATCH OF THE DAY LIVE (WED 2000) - 7.07 - BBC1
19 EMMERDALE (WED 1859) - 6.99 - ITV1
20 THE APPRENTICE (TUE 2100) - 6.84 - BBC1
21 EMMERDALE (FRI 1901) - 6.68 - ITV1
22 EASTENDERS (TUE 1930) - 6.60 - BBC1
23 EMMERDALE (THU 1858) - 6.37 - ITV1
24 EMMERDALE (TUE 1859) - 6.34 - ITV1
25 BBC NEWS (MON 1830) - 6.32 - BBC1
26 AN AUDIENCE WITH NEIL DIAMOND (SAT 2030) - 6.28 - ITV1
27 DOCTOR WHO (SAT 1902) - 6.27 - BBC1
28 HEARTBEAT (SUN 1959) - 5.70 - ITV1
29 I'D DO ANYTHING - THE FINAL (SAT 1800) - 5.46 - BBC1
30 THE INSPECTOR LYNLEY MYSTERIES (SUN 1959) - 5.30 - BBC1

Top Multi Channel Programmes w/e 1 June 2008

1 BRITAIN'S GOT MORE TALENT (Sat 2158) 2,172,000 - ITV2
2 DOCTOR WHO (Sun 2001) 1,345,000 - BBC3
3 LOST (Sun 2101) 1,166,000 - Sky One
4 EASTENDERS (Tue 2201) 1,162,000 - BBC3
5 BRITAIN'S GOT MORE TALENT (Wed 2159) 1,150,000 - ITV2
6 HEROES (Thu 2231) 1,141,000 - BBC3
7 EASTENDERS (Thu 2201) 1,122,000 - BBC3
8 BRITAIN'S GOT MORE TALENT (Mon 2230) 1,117,000 - ITV2
9 BRITAIN'S GOT MORE TALENT (Sat 2027) 931,000 - ITV2
10 BRITAIN'S GOT MORE TALENT (Fri 2231) 914,000 - ITV2
11 BRITAIN'S GOT MORE TALENT (Thu 2159) 875,000 - ITV2
12 GLADIATORS (Sun 1759) 844,000 - Sky One
13 BRITAIN'S GOT MORE TALENT (Tue 2159) 825,000 - ITV2
14 BRITAIN'S GOT TALENT (Sun 2001) 744,000 - ITV2
15 HOME AND AWAY (Wed 1829) 713,000 - Fiver (was
16 60 SECONDS (Sun 1959) 712,000 - BBC3
17 HOME AND AWAY (Tue 1828) 710,000 - Fiver (was
18 HOME AND AWAY (Thu 1828) 690,000 - Fiver (was
19 BRITAIN'S GOT TALENT FINAL RESULT (Sun 2144) 685,000 - ITV2
20 THE SIMPSONS (Sun 2031) 664,000 - Sky One
21 HOME AND AWAY (Fri 1829) 653,000 - Fiver (was
22 HOLLYOAKS (Mon 1859) 647,000 - E4 In
23 HOLLYOAKS (Wed 1859) 636,000 - E4 In
24 DOCTOR WHO CONFIDENTIAL (Sun 2045) 632,000 - BBC3
25 FAMILY GUY (Sun 2202) 630,000 - BBC3
26 HOLLYOAKS (Tue 1859) 630,000 - E4 In
27 HOLLYOAKS (Thu 1859) 611,000 - E4 In
28 DONT FORGET THE LYRICS (Sun 1901) 598,000 - Sky One
29 FAMILY GUY (Sun 2223) 593,000 - BBC3
30 BONES (Thu 2101) 586,000 - Sky One

Source BARB

FILTER: - Ratings - UK - Series 4/30

Previous 10 Stories

Midnight - AI and Digital Ratings

New Radio Times

K9 Tales - Faulty Disc - UPDATE

Torchwood comes to BBC1

Midnight - Overnight Ratings

John Barrowman in Canada

Episode Twelve Title

Russell T Davies awarded OBE

Doctor Who Confidential Down Under

Silence in the Library - Final Ratings

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