The weekly consolidated ratings for the week 17-23 October have been released by BARB, indicating that Jodie Whittaker's swansong The Power of the Doctor achieved 5.295 million viewers, making it the second most watched programme on the Sunday and the fifth most watched programme overall for the week.

Top of the week went to Saturday's Strictly Come Dancing (which saw contestant Tyler West and dance partner Dianne Buswell performing the Tango to the Doctor Who theme) with some 9.894m, followed by Sunday's Results show with 8.634m; third place went to Channel 4's The Great British Bake Off with 7.794m, and ITV's Doc Martin was fourth with 5.610m.

The episode achieved 5.1m via TV viewing which placed it sixth (with Wednesday's Coronation Street some 46000 viewers more),; however, once other ways to watch were factored in (4-Screen) it enabled the episode to overtake the soap into fifth place by some 45000 extra viewers! Sunday's BBC News at 10 (which featured an interview with David Tennant on his return to the role) which originally was ahead of Doctor Who on overnights eventually settled into 23rd place with 3.919m viewers (very few people tend to watch the news on catchup  unlike soaps and drama!)

Breaking down the ratings, the episode was watched by 2.37m viewers live, gaining another 1.25m/1.34m overnight via TV/4-Screen respectively (VOSDAL). The last seven days saw an additional 1.48m/1.59m catch up on the show.

The position marks the highest place the show has achieved since Whittker's first few episodes back in 2018 (where her debut hit the top spot and the next three episodes all made 4th place). It is also the highest veiwing figure for the show since The Halloween Apocalypse a year ago today.  

The signed repeat of the episode broadcast early Saturday morning on BBC2 was watched by 35000 viewers. 

Figures for other regions include ABC in Australia with 103000 viewers, and BBC America in the United States with 317000 viewers (64th place in the cable charts with a Neilsen 18-49 rating of 0.06).

With the news that David Tennant has returned to the TARDIS as the Fourteenth Doctor, fans will have a chance to get a first look in person at the new Doctor’s costume at London MCM Comic Con.

Viewers to Sunday night's special saw Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor regenerate on screen into David Tennant, who returns for Doctor Who’s 60th anniversary. Tennant last appeared on screen as the Tenth Doctor in 2010.

The Fourteenth Doctor’s costume will be on show at London’s Excel between 28-30th October, where thousands of fans will come together to celebrate all things pop culture. As well as the Doctor’s outfit, fans will get a glimpse of Catherine Tate’s returning companion Donna Noble’s costume too.

Vanessa Hamilton, Director of Brand for Doctor Who, at BBC Studios, said:

Fans will be able to see the Fourteenth Doctor’s costume in person at the Doctor Who stand.

Exclusive items from Forbidden Planet and Titan Merchandise’s Doctor Who 60th Anniversary Collection will also be available for fans to buy. 

As part of the promotion for the new series and the deal with Disney, the BBC have released a video featuring the next Doctor Ncuti Gatwa discussing the role and what he'd like to see and do in his episodes.

Ncuti Gatwa's guide to Doctor Who

The BBC have announced a deal with Disney Branded Television to provide Doctor Who on its streaming platform Disney+ internationally, including a new (but familiar looking!) logo for the series.

Under a shared creative vision, the two organisations will deliver the series using Disney+ as the exclusive home for new seasons outside the UK and Ireland. The announcement was made by the next Doctor Ncuti Gatwa during an appearance on American breakfast show Live with Kelly and Ryan this morning.

The new episodes will premiere on the BBC and Disney+ beginning in late 2023 for fans all over the world.

The show is produced in Wales by Bad Wolf with BBC Studios Production. Showrunner Russell T Davies said

Charlotte Moore, BBC's Chief Content Officer said:

Alisa Bowen, President of Disney+ said:

Ayo Davis, President of Disney Branded Television said:

Rebecca Glashow, CEO, Global Distribution, BBC Studios says:

Jane Tranter and Julie Gardner, Executive Producers and Co-founders, Bad Wolf, said:

The Power of the Doctor achieved an Audience Appreciation Index 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 score of 82 is the highest figure Doctor Who has achieved since the same score was recorded against the 2020 series finale The Timeless Children, with the intervening eight episodes of 2021/22 only averaging 76.6.

Jodie Whittaker's tenure saw the audience appreciation index range from its lowest score of 75 for Once, Upon Time to its highest of 83 with her debut story The Woman Who Fell To Earth alongside Rosa, Arachnids In The UK, and the following season's Fugitive of the Judoon.

The overall average for the whole of the 13th Doctor's era of 31 episodes is 79.6.

You can review the complete list of AIs scored over Doctor Who's history via our guide.

The finale of The Power of the Doctor saw Jodie Whittaker's Doctor regenerate into a surprisingly familiar face in the form of the 10th Doctor David Tennant! The actor was announced as returning back in May 2022 alongside Catherine Tate, reprising her former role as sidekick Donna. At the time showrunner Russell T Davies teased:

However, with Tennant now revealed to be the 14th Doctor, quite why this has occured and how it will lead into the next Doctor played by Ncuti Gatwa remains a mystery, with Davies commenting:

Three specials have been filmed for the 60th anniversary and are due to be shown in November 2023, with Ncuti Gatwa's first official episode to be broadcast over the following festive period.

Issue 583 of Doctor Who Magazine contains an exclusive preview of the final story for the thirteenth Doctor, The Power of the Doctor. 

Highlights of the new issue include:

• Jodie Whittaker (the Doctor), Mandip Gill (Yaz), John Bishop (Dan) and writer Chris Chibnall talk exclusively to DWM about The Power of the Doctor in the 19-page preview. 

• Chris Chibnall signs off as showrunner in his final Production Notes.

• More from Chris, as he braves questions randomly selected from the TARDIS tin.

• A full preview and contents list of the forthcoming Blu-ray box set Doctor Who: The Collection – Season 2.

• A previously unpublished interview with the late Colin Lavers reveals the stories behind the costumes he designed for 1983’s The King’s Demons and The Five Doctors.

• The sets of 1965’s Galaxy 4 are recreated, providing new insights into this mostly missing story.

• The Fact of Fiction travels deep inside the most incredible machine in the universe as it looks back at 2013’s Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS.

• The final part of The Everlasting Summer, a new comic-strip adventure for the Doctor, Yaz and Dan.

• Previews, reviews, news, prize-winning competitions, Time and Space Visualiser, Sufficient Data and more.

PLUS!

• Doctor Who: A BBC Production, a 28-page supplement tracing the behind-the-scenes history of the show and highlighting the BBC executives who have steered its course.

• A diorama of the First Doctor’s TARDIS control room.

• A huge double-sided poster with images from The Power of the Doctor.

• A download code for a complete, 60-minute Doctor Who audio drama.

Doctor Who Magazine Issue 583 is on sale Thursday 20 October from panini.co.uk and WH Smith priced £10.99 (UK). Also available as a digital edition from pocketmags.com priced £9.99.

The Thirteen Doctor’s final battles to be marked with a special home entertainment releases

Jodie Whittaker’s final three episodes as The Doctor will be available for fans to add to their collections this November.

Fans have two options to commemorate the Thirteenth Doctor’s final battles. A standalone release of the regeneration episode, The Power of the Doctor will be available on DVD and Blu-ray, or alternatively a limited-edition Blu-ray Steelbook made up of the three Series 13 specials, Eve of the Daleks, Legend of the Sea Devils and The Power of the Doctor.

The Power of the Doctor (DVD & Blu-ray), to be transmitted later this month, sees the Thirteenth Doctor take on her deadliest enemies in her final battle. The DVD and Blu-ray includes bonus materials:

• The Power of the Doctor – Behind the Scenes
• A farewell to Jodie Whittaker and Mandip Gill
• Audio commentary

Doctor Who The Series 13 Specials (Blu-ray Steelbook) consists of the three specials that have aired on TV in 2022. The Steelbook includes bespoke never seen before artwork of the Thirteenth Doctor’s final adventures.

Bonus Material includes:

• The Dalek Execution
• The Sea Devils Return
• Becoming Pirates
• The Power of the Doctor – Behind the Scenes
• A farewell to Jodie Whittaker and Mandip Gill
• Audio commentaries of all three episodes

Both releases will be available for fans to buy from 14th November and is available for pre order on Amazon

The BBC has confirmed that Doctor Who’s feature length centenary special - The Power of the Doctor – will air on BBC One and BBC iPlayer on Sunday 23rd October. This episode is the last of three specials that aired this year, and will mark Jodie Whittaker’s final adventure as the Thirteenth Doctor. 

The Power of the Doctor trailer on YouTube

Images from the episode:

Demon Records is to release Demon Quest, the second in a series of Fourth Doctor audio adventures, on vinyl. 

The limited edition stars Tom Baker as the Doctor and is the sequel to Hornets Nest which saw the return of Tom Baker to the role of the Doctor after many years. 

Demon Quest was originally released on five CDs by BBC Audiobooks between September and December 2010. Written by Paul Magrs, it stared Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor and Richard Franklin as Captain Mike Yates.

Every copy of the vinyl edition includes an exclusive, frameable portrait of the Fourth Doctor, hand signed by Tom Baker himself.

An intricately die-cut, removable outer sleeve reveals a Demonic lidded box, inside which are 10 individual illustrated LP sleeves featuring full cast and credits for each of the five stories.  

The Time Lord’s encounters with the mysterious Demon are detailed in The Doctor’s Journal, a large 16-page full-colour booklet featuring notes and illustrations from this epic pursuit through Time.  

Presented across 10 x 140g alternating Red and Black vinyl discs, this full-cast audio adventure also stars Susan Jameson as Mrs. Wibbsey. 

The supporting cast includes Nigel Anthony, Samuel West, Jan Francis, Trevor White, Lorelei King and Finty Williams,  and original sound design accompanies the familiar Doctor Who theme from the BBC Radiophonic Workshop.