The BBC have released clips looking behind the scenes of this week's episode of Doctor Who, The Zygon Inversion.




A full review of the episode can be found on Doctor Who Reviews

The first two scripts of the current series of Doctor Who have been made available online, courtesy of the BBC Writer's Room.

The Magician's Apprentice and The Witch's Familiar, both written by Steven Moffat, are available to download, as part of the BBC's commitment to support and develop writers across the whole of BBC drama, comedy and children's departments.

Link to writers room

Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat, has responded to tabloid rumours stating that next years series of Doctor Who would be cut down to allow Peter Capaldi to pursue other projects.

Talking to RadioTimes.com Moffat confirmed that Series 10 of Doctor Who would consist of 12 episodes plus a Christmas Special. The comment came after today's Mirror Newspaper reported that the next series would consist of only 6 episodes due to Capaldi's work on other projects, and follows speculation in other papers that the series would be cut due to Moffat's commitment to the Sherlock series.

Peter Capaldi also addressed rumours of the cut when asked by the BBC Entertainment correspondent Lizo Mzimba if the reports of a half season next year were accurate. The actor told The Guardian that he was disappointed by the scheduling of this years series, with episodes currently following the dancing series Strictly Come Dancing. The timeslot was also addressed by the Showrunner, when asked about reports of falling viewing figures. The transmission date of the series 10 has not been confirmed, but production is not likely to begin until May next year, meaning the start date would be pushed back beyond Autumn 2016. A new Doctor Who spin off series Class is also due to enter production at BBC Wales next year using capacity currently occupied by the Doctor Who team.

Steven Moffat told Radio Times

A roundup of publicity for the next episode in the current series of Doctor Who, The Zygon Inversion.

The Zygon Inversion: Known Broadcast Details
United Kingdom	BBC One	Sat 8 Nov 2015	8:00pm
United States of America	BBC America	Sat 8 Nov 2015	9:00pm EDT	(2:00am GMT)
Canada	SPACE	Sat 8 Nov 2015	9:00pm EDT	(2:00am GMT)
Asia Pacific	BBC Entertainment	Sun 9 Nov 2015	10:00am SGT	(2:00am GMT)
New Zealand	PRIME	Sun 9 Nov 2015	7:30pm NZDT	(6:30am GMT)
Australia	ABC	Sun 9 Nov 2015	7:40pm AEDT	(8:40am GMT)
Europe (Benelux)	BBC First	Tue 11 Nov 2015	9:00pm CEST
United Kingdom	BBC Two	Fri 13 Nov 2015	1:45am	(British Signed Language)
India	FX	Sun 15 Nov 2015	11:00pm IST
Finland	YLE2	Mon 16 Nov 2015	6:05pm EEST
South Africa	BBC First	Sat 14 Nov 2015	6:00pm SAST
Germany	FOX	Jan 2016	9:00pm CET	(dubbed into German)

Doctor Who: The Woman Who Lived had an official consolidated rating of 6.11 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 8th most watched programme on BBC Television, and third overall on Saturday. The episode finished at 25th in the chart.

Top of the week was Strictly Come Dancing with 10.42 million watching.

Doctor Who: The Zygon Invasion had an Audience Appreciation or AI score of 82.

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.

The highest score of the weekend went to the Rugby World Cup Final on ITV which scored 87.

With Sunday's overnight viewing figures now available, Doctor Who finished as the 46th most watched programme of the week. Consolidated figures will be published next week.

The Zygon Invasion has debuted in Australia, averaging 430,000 viewers in the five major capital cities. It was the highest rating ABC drama of the day and the thirteenth highest rating program of the day overall. These ratings do not include iview, regional or time-shifted viewers.

Meanwhile, including time-shifted viewers, The Girl Who Died averaged 644,000 consolidated viewers in the five major capital cities. With 149,000 extra viewers, it was, with Quantico, the equal highest time-shifted program of the day (the third highest time-shifted program had an extra 131,000 viewers) and the tenth 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 Zygon Invasion is in with Digital Spy calling the episode a superb sci-fi fable. "It's a funny, scary, fast-paced, globe-trotting thriller, with sparkling performances from the leads and a great guest cast. Harness offers up some wonderful fuel for kids' imaginations, realising everything from their wildest dreams - an alien command centre hidden under a school - to their worst nightmares - parents replaced by sinister duplicates."

The Independent felt the episode was the strongest episode so far in a very good season. "It’s an episode that’s very much of the moment and raises some interesting questions for what’s ostensibly a children’s show. The fact that it’s all wrapped around a tense and effective horror story with some genuinely chilling moments and you’re not just looking at some good Doctor Who, but some genuinely great TV."

Many reviewers picked up on the political aspects of the story, with The Express praising the real world parallels. "Doctor Who just grew up. With analogies to Islamic State, radicalisation and foreign policy strategy, tonight proved to be a serious discussion of the biggest news story in the world without once mentioning IS."

The Telegraph felt the political message was less than subtle. "Rogue Zygons release execution videos, in which captives are made to read lists of demands before being zapped into crackling heaps of dust and hair. They have a base somewhere called "Turmezistan". The problem is "a radicalisation of the younger brood," we're told, but - as the Doctor hissed to Lethbridge-Stewart - "if you start bombing you'll radicalise the lot!" I have the haunting feeling there was an analogy somewhere here, if we could only figure it out."

The Guardian also remarked on the political aspects of the story. "It’s always been the job of sci-fi to hold a mirror up to society, but returning writer Peter Harness goes considerably further than Doctor Who has in recent years. Lines like “They’ll think you’re gonna pinch their benefits,” raise a laugh, but repeated use of the word “radicalisation” in the script is a bravely emotive move in what is still perceived by many as a children’s show."

The Metro praised the international aspects of the story. "With the action taking place in three different locations – London, New Mexico and a Zygon training camp in the fictional nation of Turmezistan – and the threat of a war with 20 million shape-shifting Zygons, there’s a sense of scale and a genuine global threat to mankind that has been lacking in previous stories so far this series."

The return of everyone's favourite shape shifters was picked up by Dan of Geek. The Zygons return for their first full-on story since they debuted in Terror Of The Zygons. Sure, they were in Day Of The Doctor, but there was a lot going on there. Here, the focus is firmly on them. 20 million of them, in fact, as it turns out they’ve – Invasion Of The Body Snatchers style – been living amongst us all this time.

Radio Times also relished the return of the Zygons, as well as the return of the Doctor's biggest fan. "The most interesting character is Zygood – sorry, Osgood. Ingrid Oliver is a sweetheart in the part of the Unit boffin who may or may not be a Zygon. I don’t actually care either way. I’m more intrigued to know: will we ever find out her first name? She’s appeared in three episodes since 2013 and not a sniff of a name"

Mashable felt the character of Osgood was underused. Ingrid Oliver's Osgood, is missing in action for most of this episode. There are never enough good things to say about Osgood, a UNIT scientist who is at once earnest, lovable and an affectionate parody of the nerdiest elements of fandom. However the joy at Osgood's return was not shared by TV.Com. "When a series brings a character back from the dead, there needs to be a solid foundation and reason for resurrecting that character. Although Osgood was a fan-favorite and her return wasn't like anything we've seen so far this season, her return doesn't feel justified by what we've seen so far."

AV Club called the episode shockingly contemporary. "When something like “The Zygon Invasion” comes along, it feels fundamentally different from what the show usually gets up to.", while Games Radar called it a fun ride. "It’s packed with wonderful ideas (like the Zygon high command being a pair of schoolgirls), funny one-liners, and pop culture references."

The events at the episodes climax were picked up by Geek News. Clara being a Zygon ended up being a shocking twist that actually made me lean forward in my seat. The last five minutes of this episode were incredibly tense and made me interested in seeing more. The threat actually felt real for the characters. While The Register was also intrigued by the cliff hanger. "We close on The Zygon Invasion with Bonnie fiendishly firing a surface-to-air missile at the President of the World Doctor's plane. How the hell is he going to get out of this fix?"

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

3.87 million viewers watched Doctor Who: The Zygon Invasion, according to unofficial overnight viewing figures.

Doctor Who had a 19.4% share of the total TV audience, where is was the 5th most watched programme of the day.

Top of the day was Strictly Come Dancing with an audience of 9.35 million watching. The dancing had a nearly 4 million lead over the second placed The X Factor which was placed directly opposite Doctor Who, and managed 5.63 million.

The Rugby Cup Final, shown on ITV in the afternoon, had 4.92 million watching, while Pointless Celebrities, for the first time this year, managed to beat the Doctor in the overnight figures, although this position is likely to be reversed when the final figures are published next week.

Overall Doctor Who currently stands as 38th for the week.

The BBC have released clips looking behind the scenes of this week's episode of Doctor Who, The Zygon Invasion.




A full review of the episode can be found on Doctor Who Reviews