Doctor Who and the Daleks hand BBC One 10m viewers

by Darren Davidson, Brand Republic 07-Jul-08, 09:00

LONDON - The "will he or won't he return" speculation surrounding Doctor Who actor David Tennant helped pull in nearly 10m viewers on Saturday evening, as viewers tuned in to the last episode of the fourth season to find out if Tennant will reprise his role as the Time Lord in the next full series in 2010.

The audience peaked at 9.8m viewers and a 47% share of the audience, with an average audience of 9.4m tuning in between 6.40pm-7.45pm on BBC One.

Secrecy had shrouded the episode amid speculation he would not survive an attack by his arch enemies, the Daleks.

But the Doctor recovered leaving the way open for Tennant to return for a fifth series in 2010.

The previous week's episode had ended on a cliff-hanger when the Doctor was shot by a Dalek and apparently began to regenerate.

However, with the help of his companions, past and present, the Doctor once again beat the Daleks and their evil creator, Davros. When he does return, latest companion Catherine Tate will not. She was left behind on Earth at the end of the episode with her memories of the Doctor gone.

Tennant has been confirmed to star in the lead role for a number of BBC One 'Doctor Who' specials next year and will return in a Christmas episode, which will see the return of the Cybermen.

The fifth series will be penned by Bafta-winning writer Steven Moffat, who is to take over from current writer and executive producer, Russell T Davies.

Earlier in the day, 14-year-old British tennis sensation Laura Robson proved a bigger draw for BBC viewers than the top women's players.

Robson's victory in the Wimbledon girls' title was watched by 4.5m viewers, a million more than saw Venus Williams beat her sister Serena in the women's final.

Comments

Mark Griffiths - 07/07/2008

I don't think I'll ever forget the Daleks speaking in German. What was a completely gratuitous scene saw the Daleks floating through a forest in Germany shouting 'Exterminieren! Exterminieren! I fell about laughing. I could just imagine the creative team asking themselves, 'We need to show the global element of this conflict, so, which country can we have the Daleks in, speaking the local lingo...Spain? No. Can't see the Daleks speaking with a lisp. France? No. Daleks can't shrug. China? No, that language is all about intonation, and 'Exterminate' in Chinese as spoken by a Dalek might come out as 'Push that cream pie in my granny's face'. So, Germany it had to be. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. I'm going to see Tennant make his RSC debut playing Hamlet in a couple of weeks. I'll have to bite my tongue. 'Alas, poor Yorick - exterminate'. Indeed.

Gordon Macmillan - 07/07/2008

I fell about laughing at that as well. Seems like Daleks were made for Germany. Wonder what they'll make of that when it broadcast there. BBC Worldwide did a deal with commercial broadcaster ProSieben to show it there.

Tony Attwood - 07/07/2008

The humour in Doctor Who has been an essential part of the project since it was reborn four years back. I remember when involved with Doctor Who for the original Companion series we sat down and seriously debated humour, and were told by the BBC top-dogs that this was not on - people had always taken the Doctor seriously. The great break through came with the Cult of Scaro which turned the Daleks into a religious group - this was probably the best humour and irony in SF since Douglas Adams black control panel on a black background in an all black ship. Cool but utterly useless. Long may the humour continue - I just wish I was still involved in some tiny way.

James Walters - 07/07/2008

A sense of humour is one thing, but hiring Catherine Tate was a joke to far. Glad she's gone. She was rubbish and we were very bothered.

Ian Lang - 07/07/2008

I have a feeling that they might be trying to get back to the essence of the original series and remove all of the bad side-plots and wrong turns. I thoroughly enjoyed Tate as a companion simply because I viewed her as a decent replacement for S.J. Smith. Smith was a great companion -- respect for the doctor, no (little) actual romantic interest etc.. Tate mirrored that and became better for it at the end.. nice. I gotta tell you though -- I got goosebumps the moment Davros came out of the shadows and kept getting them right up to and including writing this post thinking about it. Kudos for bringing those memories rushing back.