BBC Worldwide Annual Review

Doctor Who features prominently in the annual BBC Annual Review, published today.

Lord Hall, Director General of the BBC and the Chairman of BBC Worldwide, the Corporations commercial arm, singled out Doctor Who as one of the success stories for BBC Worldwide, which allows audiences in the UK to enjoy investment in programmes at a higher level than the licence fee alone can provide. Series 8 of Doctor Who, which was seen in the UK by an average consolidated audience of 7.4m, has now aired in over 70 other countries, and achieved record ratings on BBC America and Space channel in Canada.

Doctor Who is one of the BBC's best selling brands, along with Top Gear, Orphan Black and Life Hall and Series 8 has been licensed to 189 territories in the year

One stand out achievement listed in the report is Doctor Who: The World Tour which took place last summer. The report highlights new licensing deals for core BBC brands including a Doctor Who partnership with LEGO.

The report highlights that the launch of series eight on BBC America delivered the show’s highest ratings to date for the channel, up 19.7% versus prior series, with an average of 2.2m viewers each week. Meanwhile licensing sales on the title returned year-on-year growth in North America.

Doctor Who remains the number one TV brand on Tumblr and ranks among Twitter’s top five most-tweeted about original dramas.