Anniversary episode awarded Guinness World Record
Sunday, 24 November 2013 - Reported by John Bowman
Last night's simultaneous broadcast of The Day of the Doctor to 94 countries has been officially named the world's largest-ever simulcast of a TV drama.A Guinness World Records certificate was presented to showrunner and episode writer Steven Moffat today at the Doctor Who Celebration at the ExCeL Centre in London by Craig Glenday, the editor-in-chief of Guinness World Records, who said:
Who else but the time-twisting Doctor could appear in 94 countries at once?! This outstanding achievement is testament to the fact that the longest-running sci-fi TV show in history is not just a well-loved UK institution but a truly global success adored by millions of people.
Accepting the award, Moffat commented: For years the Doctor has been stopping everyone else from conquering the world. Now, just to show off, he's gone and done it himself!
Tim Davie, BBC Worldwide's chief executive officer, said: We knew we were attempting something unprecedented in broadcast history, not only because Doctor Who is a drama, unlike a live feed event such as a World Cup football match or a royal wedding, but because we had to deliver the episode in advance to the four corners of the world so that it could be dubbed and subtitled into 15 different languages.
If there was any doubt that Doctor Who is one of the world's biggest TV shows, this award should put that argument to rest - and how fitting for it to receive such an accolade in its 50th year.
The BBC said that more than 1,500 cinemas around the world showed the episode, with fans in Sweden and Norway, where there was no client broadcaster, petitioning their cinemas successfully to show the episode, while in Argentina they persuaded a major cinema chain to "simulscreen" the episode. Over in the USA, there was a sell-out of 10,000 cinema tickets in 28 minutes with no advertising or marketing, while Germany saw one of its biggest cinema chains - Cinemaxx - reporting that the episode was the fastest non-movie pre-sale in its history.If there was any doubt that Doctor Who is one of the world's biggest TV shows, this award should put that argument to rest - and how fitting for it to receive such an accolade in its 50th year.
Guinness World Records has also compiled a list of the programme's other achievements.
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