FOX appear to be the first channel to announce their broadcast of the Christmas adventure The Time of The Doctor, which is due to be seen in Germany at 9:35pm CET on Christmas Day.

In their press release for December highlights, the channel said:

The time should not be used as an indication that the UK premiere will be at 8:35pm, as there is no intention to simulcast the festive adventure as with the Anniversary last weekend. The actual broadcast time will certainly be confirmed within the next couple of weeks, as the Radio Times "legendary Christmas double issue" (21 Dec - 3 Jan) is due to be published in limited numbers on 7th December and countrywide from the 9th.

With just under a month to go, the BBC have revealed the title of this year's Christmas Day adventure to be The Time of the Doctor, accompanied by two versions of their festive image representing the Doctor's final outing in the guise of Matt Smith!



A teaser trailer for the episode was released at the weekend.

Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat has been talking to Radio Times about the future of the Doctor, given the character is now dangerously near the end of his regeneration cycle as spelled out in the 1976 story The Deadly Assassin.

The story stated a Time Lord can only regenerate twelve times, and Moffat considers the Doctor is now in his thirteenth and final body. John Hurt is now officially a Doctor, sitting between the Eighth and Ninth Doctors, and David Tennant used up an extra regeneration during his stay. The writer was clear about the future, and how the Doctor is now at the end of his cycle - something that could cause problems when Matt Smith turns into Peter Capaldi in the 2013 Christmas episode. "The 12 regenerations limit is a central part of Doctor Who mythology - science fiction is all about rules, you can't just casually break them.."

To add to the confusion and despite the number of bodies the Doctor has had, Moffat is clear that Matt Smith is still the Eleventh Doctor. He told a press conference at London's Excel arena that the addition of the John Hurt Doctor to the series does nothing to alter the numbering of the other incarnations.

"He's just The Doctor, Matt Smith's Doctor is the 11th Doctor, however there is no such character as the 11th Doctor – he’s just the Doctor – that's what he calls himself. The numbering doesn't matter, except for those lists that you and I have been making for many years. So I've given you the option of not counting John Hurt numerically - he's the War Doctor."

Moffat also talked of how he found it irresistible to put Tom Baker into the 50th Anniversary story. "Tom didn't want to come and do a long thing and he didn't want to put the old costume on. He didn't want to do any of that, but his agent said that he wasn't against the idea of doing a short appearance."

Baker was the longest-serving Doctor, appearing from 1974-1981. Moffat said it would have been impossible to include all the surviving Doctors in the episode. "You can't have scenes around 11 or 12 people - you can't do it. To have the longest-standing Doctor make an appearance and be the one who briefs the new Doctor on where to go . . . well, it's irresistible, isn't it? You get to hear that voice again! It was just wonderful."

The Day of the Doctor scored an Appreciation Index figure of 88 for its broadcast on BBC One on Saturday.

The Appreciation Index, or AI, is a measure of how much the audience enjoyed the programme. The score puts the programme firmly in the "excellent" category, and is particularly impressive given the large audience. The score was the joint-highest for Saturday on the five main channels.

Sunday's BBC Three repeat of The Day of the Doctor had an overnight audience of 0.64 million viewers, where the programme won its timeslot. The broadcast peaked at 0.76 million.

The Saturday showing of Doctor Who Live: The Afterparty had an audience of 1.34 million watching, but a rather poor AI of 69. The Sunday repeat had 0.22 million watching.

Sunday saw I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! take top slot in the overnights with 10.6 million watching, pushing Doctor Who into fourth place for the week. Final figures will be released next week, and are likely to see Doctor Who very near the top of the chart for the week.

Australian Doctor Who fans set their alarms and tuned in to ABC1 as Doctor Who: The Day Of The Doctor was simulcast to 94 countries around the globe over the weekend.

Doctor Who pulled in a massive 1.95 million viewers nationally, 1.36 million at 7.30pm on ABC1 and a further 0.59 million for the live broadcast on ABC1, which went out at 6.50am in Sydney and 3.50am in Perth.

The live screening achieved a 5 city metro overnight average audience of 424,000 viewers and a total TV share of 37.1%, while the repeat broadcast achieved a 5 city metro average audience of 922,000 viewers and a total TV share of 16.1%. The repeat was second in its timeslot to 60 Minutes on Channel 9. Across both the live and repeat broadcasts, the programme reached 1.5 million viewers, or 9.3% of the 5 city metro population.

In addition, there were 51,000 plays via iview.

An Adventure in Space and Time, which followed the episode, had 0.94 million watching, a 5 city metro average audience of 633,000 and a total TV share of 13.5%.

Brendan Dahill, Controller ABC1, paid tribute to the series and its makers.

The Day of the Doctor was watched by 10.2 million viewers in the UK according to unofficial overnight figures.

The 50th Anniversary story achieved an audience share of 37.4% of the total television audience, beating ITV's The X Factor, which had 7.7 million watching.

Doctor Who was the second most-watched show of the day, with Strictly Come Dancing just edging into first place with 10.6 million viewers. ITV's other big hitter, I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!, came in at number 4 with 9.2 million watching. 5th for the day was a special Doctor Who-themed edition of Pointless Celebrities which had 5.0 million viewers.

Doctor Who is currently the third most-watched programme for the week.

The figures include those who watched the show live on BBC One, or who recorded it and watched it before 2am. They do not include those watching on iPlayer or at any of the multiple cinema showings.

Final official figures will be released next week.

The papers have been reviewing The Day of the Doctor, with most of them being impressed by the 50th anniversary episode.

The Mirror loved the show, saying how Steven Moffat "has put something together that not only gives hardcore fans a beautiful reinvention of their favourite show, but also gives casual viewers a stonking story." The paper praises the acting as "superb," with Matt Smith holding his own against veteran John Hurt. The Telegraph compares the acting styles of David Tennant and Matt Smith, calling the former "edgy and mercurial," and the latter "gentler, with a boyish eccentricity." They praised John Hurt as a "fantastic counterpoint to the physicality of Tennant and Smith," adding "with one withering look, he was able to silence his younger selves"

The Guardian found the episode "confusing" but praised the "beautiful acting." The Mail called the episode "typically chaotic, full of big, hollow bluster and knowing tiny detail." The paper disliked the effects, accusing the BBC of pandering to the American audience, while disliking the Zygons as not scary enough.

Online Mashable talked of "a towering achievement of an episode, one designed to please fans and newcomers alike which shows why the Doctor is finding his way into ever more homes and hearts." TVfanatic praised Steven Moffat for doing justice to a long-running favorite by "paying homage to the past and opening up a new future of what will hopefully be a show generations in the future will continue to love."

According to social analytics company, SecondSync Doctor Who generated almost half a million tweets during its simultaneous broadcast to over 90 countries. Most tweeting about the episode were female, with the peak number of tweets occurring at the beginning of the episode at 12,939 tweets per minute.

A summary of the media coverage relating to the 50th Anniversary for a Celebratory Saturday!

(note: the BBC radio broadcasts are available worldwide, but video broadcasts may be unavailable outside the United Kingdom. BBC iPlayer programmes are generally available for seven days after broadcast)

Television

• Well there's only one thing that you really needed to remember to watch, and that was of course The Day of the Doctor. Broadcast simultaneously around many parts of the world on television (with other channels very close to tranmission, too) and in cinema, Doctor Who truly becomes global! If for some reason you managed to miss it in the United Kingdom then it is available on the BBC iPlayer (though maybe not immediately to enable the rest of the world to catch up)
  
• The lead-up to the anniversary programme kicked off with BBC Breakfast fielding reports live from the Doctor Who Celebration at the Excel Centre in London by entertainment correspondent Lizo Mzimba and in-studio discussion with TV critic Toby Earle. The programme also included the new edition of Newswatch, which featured a report on viewers' reaction to the coverage of the series over the last couple of weeks. (BBC iPlayer link for Newswatch)
  
• CBBC had a Doctor Who theme throughout the day, including the Blue Peter Doctor Who Party (BBC iPlayer) and a 12 Again special featuring cast and celebrity fan memories of Doctor Who (BBC iPlayer).
  
• Doctor Who Live: The Afterparty was broadcast on BBC Three straight after The Day of the Doctor was broadcast, with Zoe Ball and Rick Edwards presenting the response to the episode from host of celebrities and fans. (BBC iPlayer)
  
• There were two new items on the BBC's Red Button service during the evening; the first was a behind-the-scenes video of The Day of The Doctor (available on YouTube), and a Doctor Who skit by Peter Davison on how three former Doctors try desperately to be in the 50th Anniversary special.
  

Radio

• Graham Norton broadcast his BBC Radio 2 morning show live from the Doctor Who Celebration, including chats with some of the guest stars of the day, including Tom Baker. (BBC iPlayer)
  
• A very early start for Richard Latto on BBC Radio Solent as he engaged upon a look at the association between the South coast and Doctor Who. (BBC iPlayer)
  
• BBC Essex featured William Grantham, winner of Blue Peter's "Design a Monster" competition, who talked to Peter Holmes about his experience. (BBC iPlayer - from 2:41:05, plus other chat at 1:23:00)
  
• BBC Radio Norfolk broadcast their final two soundbites from the county's Doctor Who community, featuring Terry Molloy (BBC iPlayer) and Brian Hodgson (BBC iPlayer).
  
• Other coverage includes BBC Radio Cambridgeshire's Jane Smith (BBC iPlayer), BBC Radio York's Julia Booth (BBC iPlayer), BBC Radio Devon's John Govier (BBC iPlayer), and BBC Radio 1's Matt Edmonson (BBC iPlayer)
  

Misc Media Items

• The Radio Times talks to Joanna Page on location for The Day of The Doctor.
• Brian Hodgson describes the creation of the TARDIS and Dalek sounds to BBC News.
• The Telegraph also had an item with Brian Hodgson.
• The Telegraph also lists 50 things you didn't know about Doctor Who ...
• Another Telegraph item, with Matthew Sweet explaining how to live like a Time Lord.
• Entertainment Weekly also believes there are 15 facts you probably didn't know.
• The Guardian presents Doctor Who in numbers.
• MTV list some of the connections between Doctor Who and pop band One Direction, who were also celebrating "1 Day" ...
• The East Anglian Daily Press talks to Peter Purves about his time on the show with William Hartnell.
• IP&TV News report on how The Day of the Doctor brings an end to the BBC's HD Red Button service.
• The Register looks at how the Doctor has changed "From Edwardian grump to Malcolm Tucker and back again".
• BBC News catches up with Julie Gardner.
• The Bournemouth Echo looks at Dorset's association with Doctor Who.
• Crave share what they feel are the 11 essential episodes to see.
• The Telegraph lists what it considers the show's best and worst moments.
• Forbes comments on why the show has lasted 50 years.

Highlights for Sunday

• BBC Radio Norfolk presents a collection of Doctor Who anecdotes from the county from midday.
• BBC Radio 6 has an item on the BBC Radiophonic Workshop from 8:00pm on Stuart Maconie's Freak Zone.
• UKTV in Australia and New Zealand premiere The Doctors Revisited: The Ninth Doctor, The Tenth Doctor and The Eleventh Doctor and An Adventure in Space and Time amongst others.

The BBC has released a video looking behind the lens on the 50th Anniversary episode.

Voiced by the Sixth Doctor, Colin Baker, the video features Matt Smith, David Tennant and Jenna Coleman with Billie Piper and John Hurt, as well as lead writer and executive producer Steven Moffat, discussing their 50th Anniversary experiences.

The final episode in our series of features telling the story of the creation of Doctor Who, and the people who made it happen.

On Saturday 23rd November 1963, at 5.16pm, exactly 50 years ago, Doctor Who was first broadcast on BBC Television.

The story so far... Since the spring of 1962, a new science-fiction series has been slowly, but sometimes surely, growing into life at the BBC. From the vague suggestion that the Corporation should look at making such a series, through brainstorming sessions, a new head of drama, script problems, re-made episodes, the threat of cancellation and constant arguments over budget and resources, the absolute determination of a small but determined production team has seen the new programme, called Doctor Who, at last ready to face the sternest test of all - the opinion of the British viewing public, on a day when world events have left most of them likely to be too shocked to take it in at all...

Despite events in Dallas, the schedules on BBC Television for Saturday were relatively unaffected by the news. It was the days before rolling news and continuous live updates. Grandstand, the long-running sports programme, was on air as usual, with live coverage of rugby union, where Cardiff were playing New Zealand, forming the bulk of the afternoon. A 1'47" news flash had been broadcast at 4pm, with Corbet Woodall bringing viewers up to date with events from America. Grandstand came off air just after 5.15pm and was followed by a 50-second presentation junction looking ahead to the evening's entertainment, which included Juke Box Jury, with Cilla Black, Sid James, Don Moss and Anna Quayle, the police series Dixon of Dock Green, the American series Wells Fargo and the Saturday film Santa Fe Passage.

It was at exactly 16 minutes and 20 seconds past five that the opening titles of Doctor Who ran and the nation was introduced to a brand-new science fiction series.

The ratings were sound, but not spectacular, with 4.4 million viewers tuning in. A power cut had hit a sizeable area of the country, meaning many people had been unable to watch, and for this reason executives agreed to repeat the first episode a week later, just before transmission of the second.

Press response, however, was favourable, as was the BBC's own audience research into the story. A Reaction Index of 63 was recorded, roughly the average for drama at the time. Detailed research, released in December, showed viewers in a research sample thought this a good start to a series that gave promise of being very entertaining.
BBC Head of TV Drama Sydney Newman was out of the country for the launch, staying in New York. On Wednesday Donald Wilson sent him the following telegram:

---

When the series went on the air it had a very uncertain future. Just 26 episodes were confirmed, with an option for an additional 13 if it did well.

With hindsight, that future was secure and the series would flourish. The arrival of the Daleks at the end of the fifth episode would capture the imagination of the nation and push the series to the forefront of British consciousness. Ratings for the first year would peak at over 10 million viewers and the series would become an important weapon in the BBC's battle to win dominance of Saturday night against rival ITV.

The show would survive many changes: the loss of the first production team, the changing of the companions, and in 1966 the replacement of the lead actor. It would survive the transformation into colour and being shunted around the schedules. Ratings would veer from a disappointing 3.1 million to an astonishing 16 million. Most importantly, the series would beat cancellation in 1989, being reborn in 2005 for a new generation, having been brought back to life by those who had adored it in their youth, allowing fans across the world to experience the wonder of the show, just as their parents and grandparents had done before.

Today, Doctor Who celebrates its 50th anniversary with a global broadcast of the 799th episode The Day of the Doctor. The series is at the heart of the BBC's strategy for the future. It brings in millions of pounds for the Corporation through overseas sales and merchandise deals. It is at the centre of the BBC's Saturday night schedule and breaks all records for digital engagement. Eleven lead actors have now graced our screens as the Doctor, with the 12th lined up to take over next month. The series that started life as a vague idea from a working group in 1962 is now an international phenomenon. If all the episodes were shown back to back, the screening would last for 15 days, 10 hours and 9 minutes. It holds the Guinness World Records for "the world's most successful sci-fi series" and "the world's longest-running sci-fi series".

But more than all the awards and accolades, Doctor Who holds a very special place in the hearts of the people who love it. Something about Doctor Who touches the very soul, inspiring generations of fans in their love for the series. The first 50 years are complete. The story goes on.

---