Overnight viewing figures for the weekend beyond the transmission of "New Earth" (which Outpost Gallifrey reported two days ago) are in. The first transmission of Totally Doctor Who, the children's documentary series, on Thursday on BBC1 was seen by 800,000 viewers, while Saturday evening's first Doctor Who Confidential documentary on BBC3 was seen by 732,000 viewers with a 4.7% audience share (the Sunday night repeat had 324,000 viewers, 2.1% audience share). Also, the Sunday evening repeat of New Earth on BBC3 had 384,000 viewers (2.5% audience share), rather low compared to last year's Sunday repeats (621,000 for 'Aliens of London' on the same weekend in 2005)... although this was on a day when good weather saw television audiences in the UK down by 20% or more overall. Confidential's Saturday figure is 21,000 higher than its 2005 equivalent.

Meanwhile, the audience appreciation index (AI) results for Saturday are available, and the transmission of New Earthsecured a rating of 85. This is the highest figure for any programme on UK television on Saturday, Doctor Who's nearest rival being Five's "CSI: New York" with 84. It should be noted that Doctor Who is one of only seven out of forty programmes shown on Saturday to have an AI of over 80; another seven scored 70 or lower, and the rest are in the seventies. The figure suggests an general audience response slightly more positive than that for The Christmas Invasion(84), and makes the episode more widely 'popular' than all but two episodes of the 2005 series - 'Bad Wolf' (86) and 'The Parting of the Ways' (89). (Thanks to Steve Tribe, Andy Parish)

The first overnight viewing figures are now in for New Earth and it seems to have maintained last year's strong performance: an average of 8.0 million viewers watched the episode, with an average 38.6 per cent audience share. The episode was not only BBC One's top-rated programme on Saturday evening and first in its timeslot, with the main competition - ITV1's Harry Potter movie - being watched by about 4.8m people (23.6%) while Doctor Who was on; it was also Saturday's top-rated television programme, with Casualty second-placed with 7.0m. The start of 'New Earth' saw an increase in BBC One's ratings of 2.1m, from 5.7m (30.9%) to 7.8m (38.5%), rising to a peak of 8.3m (39.0%) for the last fifteen minutes; when the episode finished, 2.9m people switched off BBC One. (This is in line with last year's episodes, when two to three million viewers came and went, specifically for Doctor Who.) These figures are also 1.0 million up on Doctor Who's performance in the overnights on the same Saturday last year ('Aliens of London' on 16 April), when an average of 7.0m (34%) were watching. The ratings success has been reported by BBC News and CBBC News. (Thanks to 'Shaun Lyon')

BARB has now posted the final ratings data for the week ending on Christmas Day, showing an increase in viewing figures for The Christmas Invasion from 9.4 million in the overnights (originally published by ViewingFigures and BARB's own overnight estimates) to 9.84 million total viewers. As well as winning in its timeslot (against ITV1's Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? on 5.80m), the Christmas episode has ended up as the second most-watched programme of the day, behind BBC One's EastEnders (10.60m) but well ahead of ITV1's Coronation Street (8.83m, despite overnights showing a tie on 9.4m). Doctor Who was BBC One's fifth-placed programme of the week, behind four episodes of EastEnders; four high-rating episodes of Coronation Street make 'The Christmas Invasion' the ninth-placed programme of the week across UK television, with Doctor Who being the third most watched show, behind the two main soaps but 0.44m ahead of the highest-rated episode of Emmerdale. A more detailed breakdown of the figures is not yet available.

Also, the initial AI (Audience Appreciation Index) figure for the BBC Three repeat of "The Christmas Invasion" on January 1 has been reported as a very high 88, in fact more than the initial AI figures reported for the original broadcast on Christmas Day, which was 84. As with final ratings, final AI figures are computed later (with a significantly longer lead time, usually at least a month) and will be posted when available.

The final BARB ratings (Broadcasters Audience Research Board) have been released for the Children in Need special that aired last November. The ratings show that the quarter-hour that featured the Children in Need mini-episode gained 10.8m viewers, the highest Doctor Who-related audience since the first broadcast of "Rose" in March. The previous fifteen-minute segment of CiN had 10.1m viewers and the subsequent fifteen minutes saw a drop back down to 10.0m. Note that, as with the overnight ratings previously reported on Outpost Gallifrey, it remains difficult to be exact, since viewers in Scotland saw the special a few minutes later than the rest of the country.

Meanwhile, according to overnight ratings provided by ViewingFigures, 501,700 viewers (2.7% audience share) tuned in for BBC3's repeat of The Christmas Invasion on New Years Day. Though it wasn't in the top ten for the week on the non-terrestrial channels (beaten by episodes of The Simpsons and Little Britain among others), it ranks at or slightly below average from the second-run BBC3 repeats from series one... the difference being that it achieved this score on a holiday. BARB ratings are due very shortly for the original Christmas Day broadcast of "The Christmas Invasion".

Finally, the initial Audience Appreciation Index (AI) figure for "The Christmas Invasion" has now been reported at 84. The figure will likely change for the 'final' version (the final figure usually released two months or so after broadcast, after all figures are taken into account) but the initial version was the second-highest AI ranking on Christmas Day, beaten only by ITV's broadcast of "Creature Comforts". (Thanks to Steve Tribe, Keith Topping)

BBC News today reports that while EastEnders was the most watched television programme in the UK on Christmas Day, Doctor Who was immediately behind it at #2. EastEnders managed an average viewership of 10.1 million viewers, peaking at 11 million, while Doctor Who's ratings averaged 9.4 million viewers, peaking at 9.8 million, and managing a 42.7% share according to the overnight ratings. ITV1's "Coronation Street" also averaged 9.4 million viewers but peaking slightly less than "Doctor Who", putting it into the #3 slot. Seven BBC1 items got into the top 10 viewing figures for the day, too, adding to the channel's success. Complete details are also available via The Sun, CBBC News, The Telegraph. The final ratings report from BARB will be out within a few weeks, where as usual, the expected final rating will likely be somewhat higher. (Thanks to Paul Engelberg)

The UK version of the New Series Boxed Set, as previously reported, contains several errors, including the inability to play the entirety of "World War Three" from the episodic option. UK viewers are asked to call the BBC help line at 0870 241 0624 prior to returning their discs; they will send a replacement disc as available. Meanwhile, Outpost Gallifrey has been informed that the Australian version of the boxed set has been recalled by the manufacturers because they hold the same problems; there is currently no word about when they will be re-released, although current information indicates it is likely in early January.

Sunday 17 July	7.00pm	Rose	165,300	1.5%
Sunday 17 July	7.45pm	Confidential Cut Down 1	141,500	1.2%
Friday 22 July	9.00pm	Rose	139,900	1.0%
Friday 22 July	9.45pm	Confidential Cut Down 1	132,300	0.9%
Sunday 24 July	7.00pm	The End of the World	162,000	1.2%
Friday 29 July	9.00pm	The End of the World	151,500	1.0%
Sunday 31 July	7.00pm	The Unquiet Dead	227,000	1.8%
Friday 5 August	9.00pm	The Unquiet Dead	89,500	0.6%
Sunday 7 August	7.00pm	Aliens of London	215,200	1.8%
Friday 12 August	9.00pm	Aliens of London	101,300	0.7%
Sunday 14 August	7.00pm	World War Three	226,300	1.7%
Friday 19 August	9.00pm	World War Three	200,200	1.4%
Sunday 21 August	7.00pm	Dalek	201,500	1.7%
Friday 26 August	9.00pm	Dalek	132,600	0.9%
Sunday 28 August	7.00pm	The Long Game	129,200	1.1%
Friday 2 September	9.00pm	The Long Game	150,600	1.0%
Sunday 4 September	7.00pm	FatherÆs Day	190,600	1.4%
Friday 9 September	9.00pm	FatherÆs Day	263,800	1.8%
Sunday 11 September	7.30pm	The Empty Child	196,500	1.3%
Sunday 11 September	8.15pm	The Doctor Dances	284,900	1.7%
Friday 16 September	9.00pm	The Empty Child	132,900	0.9%
Sunday 18 September	7.30pm	Boom Town	252,600	1.6%
Sunday 18 September	8.15pm	Bad Wolf	275,000	1.7%
Friday 23 September	9.00pm	The Doctor Dances	211,500	1.4%
Sunday 25 September	7.00pm	The Parting of the Ways	216,900	1.5%

These figures continue to put the repeats outside the BBC Three top 10 for each week, but are probably high enough to keep Doctor Who in the channelÆs top 20. (BBC ThreeÆs Top 10, dominated by EastEnders, Little Britain and Nighty Night at the moment, is getting between 300,000 and 700,000 viewers.) No figures are available for the various Confidential repeats, aside from the first one. (Thanks to Steve Tribe)

Overnight ratings figures are in for the current run of repeat showings of the new series on BBC Three:


While these figures don't put the repeats in BBC Three's Top Ten (currently reaching 250,000-400,000 viewers), they are comparable to what the channel has achieved with other programmes in the Friday 9pm timeslot (about 140,000), and a marked improvement on the 78,000 achieved by T in the Park on 10 July, the Sunday before the repeats started. The Doctor Who repeats are also achieving a similar or slightly improved audience share to other BBC Three output in those slots. (Thanks to Nick Salmond, Steve Tribe)

The UK repeat showing of "Rose" on BBC3 at 7pm on Sunday 17 July was watched by 165,300 viewers (1.5% share). The Cut Down version of the first Doctor Who Confidential that followed at 7.45pm had 141,500 viewers (1.2%).

The BBC's audience research for the first series of "Doctor Who" has shown some major developments for the channel. The series average to date, in final numbers, has been 8.2 million viewers and a 40% share; episode one had the highest audience for a new Doctor (jointly held with Tom Baker's debut in 1974) and the second highest launch of a new series (behind season 17 in 1979). The show strongly skewed toward both children and 35-44 year old age brackets, with an average overnight AI (audience index) ranking of 83, higher than normal for BBC drama. 63% of viewers said their main reason for watching episode 1 was because of the trailer, while 22% said their main reason for watching episode 6 was to see the Daleks. However, 68% said it was because they were enjoying the series. Over 90% of viewers polled say the Doctor Who is "good family viewing" but 19% had concerns about children being scared by the series, highest amongst older women. Just 6% of parents who watched Doctor Who wouldn't allow their children to watch. 59% of the audience think Doctor Who is better than other drama,a nd a massive 82% of the audience are "Very likely" to watch the new series, with a further 14% are quite likely.