Doctor Who: Heaven Sent had an Audience Appreciation or AI score of 80.

The score is lower than average for the series, reflecting the unusual nature of the story, which saw Peter Capaldi alone for most of the story.

The Appreciation Index or AI is a measure of how much the audience enjoyed the programme. The score, out of a hundred, is compiled by a specially selected panel of around 5,000 people who go online and rate and comment on programmes.

Heaven Sent has debuted in Australia, averaging 455,000 viewers in the five major capital cities. The story was the second highest rating ABC drama of the day and the twelfth highest rating program of the day overall. These ratings do not include iview, regional or time-shifted viewers.

Meanwhile, including time-shifted viewers, Sleep No More averaged 564,000 consolidated viewers in the five major capital cities. With 148,000 extra viewers it was the second highest time-shifted program of the day and the twelfth highest rating program of the day overall. These ratings do not include iview or regional viewers.

This item Contains Plot Spoilers

Press reaction to the latest Doctor Who episode, Heaven Sent mainly highlights the solo aspect of the story and the acting ability of the show's main star. An instant classic was the verdict of Radio Times. "This is Peter Capaldi’s hour and he has earned it. OK, the running time is five minutes shy of one hour, but this brilliant, bold, extended episode is a one-man show – a tour de force from the magnificent Capaldi."

The Express agreed. "As a concept it actually worked surprisingly well and Peter Capaldi managed to carry off the whole thing without it feeling too weird. He led us through this adventure, which was an exploration of grief and the fear of death"

The Metro calls the episode an epic one man show. "Capaldi delivers 100%, carrying every scene and showing every facet of his Doctor: anger, terror, playfulness, intensity, resignation and, finally, a fierce refusal to do anything other than do what he has always done: find a way to win."

A mind bending masterpiece is how Digital Spy sums up the story. "One thing's for certain - even after 5 years in the job, showrunner Moffat is refusing to rest on his laurels, switching up not just the show's style but its substance. He's out to prove that you can still do something new with a character that's been around for half a century."

The writing was picked up by AV Club who thought it a perfect episode. "It’s a tour de force for writer Steven Moffat, director Rachel Talalay, and star Peter Capaldi, who is by himself for a good 95 percent of the episode’s running time."

Den of Geek also praised the writer "This is Steven Moffat on very good form. He's being confident and clever with time, without zipping backwards and forwards and asking us to hold on. There’s an inherent trust that the audience is on board with what he’s doing, and – in a recurring theme this series – there's a genuine gamble with format and story.". The Register agreed "It's a terrific episode penned by showrunner Steven Moffat. Season 9 has veered off course once or twice, but over all it's been thoroughly entertaining. And I say this even though those damn sonic sunnies are still being worn by the Doctor."

IGN thought the episode showed the Doctor needed Clara. "It’s telling how empty he is now without her. He’s lost without her, and I’m sure this notion will play into next week’s season finale as well where it looks like the Doctor is out for blood.". While TV.com thought the return to Gallifrey had been underplayed. "The fact that the BBC carelessly revealed in the logline for "Heaven Sent" that the Doctor would be returning to Gallifrey tells me that the folks involved with the show don't think the Time Lords' return was particularly noteworthy. But to me as a fan, it feels a bit like we've been cheated out of a really great story"

Indewire praised the production values "This is a "bottle episode," an episode that takes place entirely in one small space the characters -- or in this case, character - can't get out of. Normally slotted into a series for budget constraints, that's probably not the case here, with a glorious CGI'd castle straight out of "Game of Thrones" and some incredible special effects, but it's deeply claustrophobic and unsettling."

Gamesradar thought it showed the 52 year old series could still have fresh ideas. "Heaven Sent” proves there’s still virgin territory to be explored. It’s refreshingly unlike any episode we’ve seen before."

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

4.51 million viewers watched Doctor Who: Heaven Sent, according to unofficial overni ght viewing figures.

The episode had a 20.7% share of the total Television audience.

Strictly Come Dancing was top for the day with 10.23 million watching. ITV managed 7.59 million for I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! which was ahead of The X Factor which had 6.6 million viewers.

On the overnight figures, Doctor Who was 6th for the day, behind Pointless Celebrities and BBC News, but this will be reversed when final figures are released next week.

The BBC have made the script of last week's episode, Face the Raven by Sarah Dollard, available to read online via their BBC Writers Room. The "purple script" from 26th June 2015, under the episode's original title Trap Street, includes a number of additional passages of dialogue/scenes that were lost prior to its ultimate filming and transmission, examples of which include Rigsy's full name and the appearance of his fiancée Jen, the mystery of Derren Brown, plus dialogue from the original ending scene that appeared post-credits.

Other scripts available from the site include the opening stories of this series and for series three.

German DVD distributer Polyband released a trailer for the upcoming Series 9 DVD and Blu-Ray boxed set, announcing the release date even before the UK.

The 6-disc set, containing all 12 episodes of Series 9 as well as the upcoming Christmas Special, will be released on 18th March 2016. According to the Polyband Website, there will be many bonus features on the set, including a 45 minute interview with the cast, conducted by former Star Trek: The Next Generation actor Will Wheaton.

Series 9 will premier in Germany on 3rd December 2015 on the TV channel FOX. You can already pre-order the DVD's and the Blu-Rays at Amazon Germany.

A roundup of publicity for the penultimate episode in the current series of Doctor Who, Heaven Sent.

Heaven Sent: Known Broadcast Details
United Kingdom	BBC One	Sat 28 Nov 2015	8:05pm
United States of America	BBC America	Sat 28 Nov 2015	9:00pm EDT	(2:00am GMT)
Canada	SPACE	Sat 28 Nov 2015	9:00pm EDT	(2:00am GMT)
Asia Pacific	BBC Entertainment	Sun 29 Nov 2015	10:00am SGT	(2:00am GMT)
New Zealand	PRIME	Sun 29 Nov 2015	7:30pm NZDT	(6:30am GMT)
Australia	ABC	Sun 29 Nov 2015	7:40pm AEDT	(8:40am GMT)
Europe (Benelux)	BBC First	Tue 1 Dec 2015	9:00pm CEST
United Kingdom	BBC Two	Fri 4 Dec 2015	3:35am	(British Signed Language)
South Africa	BBC First	Sat 5 Dec 2015	6:00pm SAST
India	FX	Sun 13 Dec 2015	11:00pm IST
Finland	YLE2	Mon 14 Dec 2015	6:05pm EET
Denmark	DR3	Fri 1 Jan 2016	~8:00pm CET	(unconfirmed broadcast)
Germany	FOX	Thu 21 Jan 2016	9:00pm CET	(dubbed into German)

The BBC have released a new synopsis and publicity image for the forthcoming Christmas Special, which stars Peter Capaldi as the Doctor with Alex Kingston as River Song, and also features Greg Davies as King Hydroflax and Matt Lucas as Nardole.

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The Christmas Special is (of course) due to be broadcast on BBC One on Christmas Day, but the first channel to confirm exactly when they will broadcast the episode is FOX in Germany, whose schedules show that it is due to air there on Thursday 28th January at 9:00pm! This is later than in recent years (where the episode has aired on or close to the same day as the UK) owing to a delay in being able to dub the episodes into German.

Though no other regions have confirmed when they will show the episode as yet, last year's special, Last Christmas, was broadcast in over thirty countries within 24 hours of the UK premiere!

Doctor Who: Sleep No More had an official consolidated rating of 5.61 million viewers.

The rating issued by the Broadcasters' Audience Research Board, or BARB, includes all those who watched the programme within one week of transmission. It does not include those watching online via iPlayer

Doctor Who was the 14th most watched programme on BBC Television, and 4th overall on Saturday. The episode finished at 28th in the chart.

Strictly Come Dancing topped the ratings for the week with 11.71 million viewers. Events in Paris resulted in many News programmes entering the Top 30 for the week.

Face the Raven has debuted in Australia, averaging 481,000 viewers in the five major capital cities. The story, written by Australian screenwriter Sarah Dollard, was the highest rating ABC drama of the day and the eleventh highest rating program of the day overall. These ratings do not include iview, regional or time-shifted viewers.

Meanwhile, including time-shifted viewers, The Zygon Inversion averaged 596,000 consolidated viewers in the five major capital cities. With 130,000 extra viewers it was the third highest time-shifted program of the day and the thirteenth highest rating program of the day overall. These ratings do not include iview or regional viewers.