Doctor Who: The Witch's Familiar finished with an official rating of 5.71 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.

The rating makes Doctor Who the 24th most watched programme on British Television for the week and the 8th most watched BBC programme for the week.

The live Rugby where England played Wales, which took a sizable proportion of Doctor Who's audience, finished with a consolidated rating of 8.96 million. Top of the list was The Great British Bake Off which had a final audience of 11.09 million viewers.

The final rating of 5.71 million is the lowest since the series returned in 2005, although Silence in the Library in 2008, had a lower chart position with 27th.

Doctor Who: Under the Lake had an Audience Appreciation or AI score of 84.

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.

Doctor Who: Under the Lake had an Audience Appreciation or AI score of 84.

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.

Under the Lake has debuted in Australia, averaging 428,000 viewers in the five major capital cities. Directly up against the national rugby league grand final, it was the second-highest rating ABC drama of the day and the thirteenth highest rating program of the day overall. These ratings do not include regional or time-shifted viewers.

Meanwhile, including time-shifted viewers, The Magician's Apprentice averaged 847,000 consolidated viewers in the five major capital cities. With 190,000 extra viewers, it was the second-highest time-shifted program of the day and the eighth highest rating program of the day overall. These ratings do not include regional viewers.

This item Contains Plot Spoilers

Doctor Who - Under the Lake receives mostly praise in the press with many reviewers welcoming the move to a more traditional type of Doctor Who story.

The Independent enjoys the variety that Doctor Who offers, with this weeks episode being very different than last week's Dalek battle. Under the Lake neatly pulls off one of the tried-and-tested tricks of Who’s elastic format by gleefully mashing together genres and expectations. It has rarely been done with such palpable tension and slow-burning dread..

The Telegraph thought the episode enjoyably old-fashioned saying This rollicking, hair-raising romp demonstrated that the sci-fi franchise still has the power to thrill and chill in equal measure.

The Express found the story terrifying If you weren't given the willies by Under the Lake - even just a little bit, then you could well be the bravest member of the audience. Doctor Who really did put the frights on this week with a scary episode that left most shuddering.

The return to roots idea was also noticed by Stuff.co.nz. The story ends with a cliff hanger, a device used in every classic Doctor Who story but seldom in new Who, tying something old to something new. And it's a cliff hanger which is bound to have audiences tuning in to next week's episode, Before The Flood, in droves

Online Den of Geek described the episode as a cracking slice of old-style Doctor Who, praising the Director Daniel O'Hara. He had never directed an episode of Doctor Who before this one, but it can’t just be me hoping he gets many repeat calls. He makes full use of the claustrophobia afforded by the base setting, using time honoured tricks such as relaying scale on computer screens and shooting from different angles to make everything appear far bigger on the inside. It works.

O'Hara also won plaudits from Metro praising both him and the writer Toby Whithouse who produce a taut, claustrophobic atmosphere which ramps up the tension beautifully. The physical sets add to that, as does the CGI used to realise the ghosts.

Radio Times is not convinced saying With a tweak and a fiddle, it can remain fresh, and maybe Under the Lake does appear fresh to younger viewers, but this time, to me, it does not. It feels derivative, even by Doctor Who’s standards. They do however praise the casting of Sophie Stone, the first deaf woman to have studied at Rada.

Digital Spy found the story atmospheric but flawed. It's refreshing to have our heroes simply stumble upon a crisis and resolve to fix it. It's the set-up for a good old-fashioned Doctor Who adventure, and spared another of the Doctor's personal crises., while TV.com thought it was better than the season premiere and enjoyed the premise of the episode. As the Doctor said, death was the one thing that united every creature in the universe and the idea of it no longer being a boundary made him giddier than a school girl. More curious than afraid, he had several questions for the ghosts, like whether or not they missed being alive and what death was like.

TV Fanatic feels frustrated by the two part nature of this season. Yeah, I'm a Netflix guy and rather than build anticipation for the second part, waiting a week (with other shows in-between) simply frustrates me. Can't you already tell the juicy stuff is coming in the second half?

Meanwhile Mashable, while being unsure about some of the dialogue, enjoyed the cue cards. I loved the idea that Clara has trained the Time Lord to carry around index cards with little scripts for situations where his emotional cluelessness gets him into trouble. Longtime fans will be punching the air to see a card marked "I'm sorry, I thought you lived in Aberdeen.". Finally IGN welcomes the direction change after the four part Missy story. Under the Lake feels like a bit of a throttle down for Doctor Who with its fairly ordinary tale of just plain old, oh, you know… ghosts!.

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

3.7 million watched Doctor Who: Under the Lake, according to unofficial overnight figures.

Doctor Who, which had a share of 16.3% of the total audience, once more suffered by being placed directly opposite live Rugby, where this week, England V Australia was watched by an average of 8.04 million, to top the overnight figures for Saturday.

BBC One's top programme was Strictly Come Dancing, with 7.92 million watching. Casualty, which was directly after Doctor Who, had 3.77 million, just edging above The Doctor, although the positions are likely to be reversed when consolidated figures are released next week.

Overall Doctor Who was 5th for the day and is currently 43rd for the week.

3.7 million watched Doctor Who: Under the Lake, according to unofficial overnight figures.

Full details shortly

The BBC have released clips looking behind the scenes of this weeks episode of Doctor Who, Under the Lake.




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

FX in India have announced that the latest series of Doctor Who reaches the country this Sunday evening!

FX took up the mantle of Doctor Who in India since May this year, after BBC Entertainment ceased transmission in the country in 2012. Shown daily, viewers have been able to experience the latest adventures of the Doctor over the last few months, leading to the debut of Peter Capaldi this weekend as the channel shows the whole of the eighth series over two afternoons - leading to the premiere of The Magician's Apprentice on Sunday 4th October 2015 at 11:00pm.

The announcement means that India is now the ninth region in the world to see the new adventures of the Doctor, currently being enjoyed by the UK (BBC One), USA (BBC America), Canada (SPACE), Asia (BBC Entertainment), New Zealand (PRIME), Australia (ABC), Benelux (BBC First), and Finland (YLE2). Denmark (DR3), South Africa (BBC First) and Germany (FOX) are due to air the series in the coming weeks.

You can keep up with the latest broadcasts of Doctor Who around the world via This Week in Doctor Who.

The BBC have released publicity imagery for the forthcoming episode, Under The Lake.

Under The Lake: Known Broadcast Details
United Kingdom	BBC One	Sat 3 Oct 2015	8:25pm
United States of America	BBC America	Sat 3 Oct 2015	9:00pm EDT	(2:00am BST)
Canada	SPACE	Sat 3 Oct 2015	9:00pm EDT	(2:00am BST)
Asia Pacific	BBC Entertainment	Sun 4 Oct 2015	10:00am SGT	(3:00am BST)
New Zealand	PRIME	Sun 4 Oct 2015	7:30pm NZDT	(7:30am BST)
Australia	ABC	Sun 4 Oct 2015	7:40pm AEDT	(9:40am BST)
Europe (Benelux)	BBC First	Tue 6 Oct 2015	9:00pm CEST
United Kingdom	BBC Two	Fri 9 Oct 2015	1:15am	(British Signed Language)
Finland	YLE2	Mon 12 Oct 2015	6:05pm EEST
South Africa	BBC First	Sat 24 Oct 2015	7:30pm SAST
Germany	FOX	Thu 10 Dec 2015	9:00pm CET	(dubbed into German)