The BBC have released a number of publicity images for episode two of the new series.

The Witch's Familiar: Known Broadcast Details
United Kingdom	BBC One	Sat 26 Sep 2015	7:45pm
United States of America	BBC America	Sat 26 Sep 2015	9:00pm EDT	(2:00am BST)
Canada	SPACE	Sat 26 Sep 2015	9:00pm EDT	(2:00am BST)
Asia Pacific	BBC Entertainment	Sun 27 Sep 2015	10:00am SGT	(3:00am BST)
New Zealand	PRIME	Sun 27 Sep 2015	7:30pm NZST	(8:30am BST)
Australia	ABC	Sun 27 Sep 2015	7:40pm AEST	(10:40am BST)
Europe (Benelux)	BBC First	Tue 29 Sep 2015	9:00pm CEST
United Kingdom	BBC Two	Fri 2 Oct 2015	1:45am	(British Signed Language)
Finland	YLE2	Mon 5 Oct 2015	6:05pm EEST
South Africa	BBC First	Sat 24 Oct 2015	6:45pm SAST
Germany	FOX	Thu 3 Dec 2015	~10:00pm CET	(dubbed into German)

Doctor Who The Magician's Apprentice was Doctor Who's biggest ever première in the states for the key demographic of Adults aged 18-49.

Overall the episode had 2 million watching, with 1.1 million being between 18-49, nearly doubling the S8 average, making BBC America the third most watched channel in that demographic for the timeslot.

The channel beat the big 4 broadcast networks and ranked only behind college football on ESPN and the finale of Sábado Gigante on Univision. Out of 100 returning dramas, Doctor Who is one of just 14 dramas to show any growth from its prior season premiere.

Sarah Barnett, President of BBC AMERICA said
All tracked demographics showed increases from the season 8 average with the most significant increases seen among the younger viewers.

The episode was the #1 most social drama of the night based on ListenFirst's Digital Audience Ratings for Television. It was the #1 TV brand on Tumblr, the #1 drama on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube and the #2 drama on Instagram, following The Walking Dead. It was the #1 most social drama of the week.

Doctor Who: Legacy has announced a weekly content release to tie in with Series 9 of Doctor Who, and campaign going through to the Christmas episode in December.

Every Sunday night, the team will release at least one new level based on that Saturday's television episode. This began last night with The Magician's Apprentice, rewarding players with Ohila, the High Priestess of the Sisterhood of Karn.

Next Sunday night, the day after The Witch's Familiar, players will get to take on Davros himself and be rewarded with a new costume for the Twelfth Doctor, complete with guitar.

Also, for the next few days, Google Play fans can purchase Sonic Adventures premium area for 40% off (and also purchase Series 8 of the TV series for 40% off in US, UK, Canada, and Australia.)

Doctor Who: Legacy, is played by nearly 2 million fans. It now has over 100 hours of playable content and includes all 13 Doctors, over 140 playable allies and companions. The game also includes enemies from throughout the 51 year history of the show, extended universe content from Big Finish, Titan Comics, and George Mann’s Engines of War novel, as well as the Bigger on the Inside 8-bit style retro adventure.

Doctor Who: The Magician's Apprentice had an Audience Appreciation or AI score of 84.

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 is on a par with the scores for Series Eight of Doctor Who, which averaged 83.3.

52% of the viewers responding, strongly agreed the programme was Fresh and New .

Doctor Who was 29th for the week on UK Television. However an additional 1.1 million viewers watched the episode on catch up on Sunday.

The Magician's Apprentice has debuted in Australia, averaging 653,000 viewers in the five major capital cities. It was the top-rating ABC drama of the day and the eighth highest rating program of the day overall. These ratings do not include regional or time-shifted viewers.

This story contains plot spoilers.

Press reaction to this years season première, The Magician's Apprentice has been overwhelmingly positive, with most of the reviewers enjoying the storyline and the performances in the episode.

Rare praise for the BBC came from the The Daily Mail whose reviewer thought "Doctor Who was ridiculously good - a sharp, fast, thrilling, piece of historic, futuristic, television: the BBC at its best". The Telegraph was less convinced by the show's storyline but more by its lead actor. "Rarely has a show been so dependent on the skills of a single actor - and Capaldi is a good one: able to bring just enough emotional depth to a comicbook caper to render it dramatic".

The Mirror thought the show belonged to Missy. "Michelle Gomez steals the episode as the demented Time Lady who kills for fun and prances around in the face of greater evil". While The Express thought the episode should have been Peter Capaldi's first episode. "The Davros genesis story is a stroke of genius by Steven Moffat. We've seen the maniacal Nazi-esque creator of the Daleks as a craggy old man, hellbent on destroying the Doctor, but rarely have we seen how the mad genius came to be. And that's exactly what fans got with this episode.".

The Guardian also enjoyed Julian Bleach's performance as Davros. "The bleak devastation he wreaks by the end of the episode is more powerful than any madcap plot to enslave the universe that has come before. And Julian Bleach, returning to the role, wrings every drop of menace.". The Evening Standard called the episode a "gripping start to the latest series. Ray-Bans on, an electric guitar swinging from your neck. To the ever-expanding list of abilities that the last(ish) of the Time Lords has, we can now definitively add one more: Doctor Who can shred."

Patrick Mulkern in Radio Times calls the boy Davros a brilliant idea and says the episode rattles along with barely a bum note, with the gradual reveal of Skaro being beautifully realised.

Over in the States Entertainment Weekly said "From the minute the Doctor’s sonic screwdriver flies through the air and lands at the feet of a child yet to be named, The Magician’s Apprentice feels like coming home"., while Forbes thinks the show is back to its rare form and called the opener "an edge-of-your-seat thriller for recent Who fans and absolute magic for old-school Whovians".

Over in Australia the Sydney Morning Herald praised Michelle Gomez, "A breathtaking performance as Missy, full of gasps, one-liners, moments that lurch from underplayed to overplayed in a breath"

Online Digital Spy thought the episode was mixed. "Not everything works, but with the ideas, twists and gags being packed in at such a rate of knots, there's enough that does - and some of it very well indeed.". CNET described the show as" one of the most idea-packed and high-stakes episodes I can remember", while IGN said it was a "cracking opener to the season with a combination of exciting action, creepy visuals, and tense situations". Games Radar called the episode "a supremely confident series première, and said the show was full of wit and menace, unafraid to take on the show’s museum piece classics."

The Register thought Season 9 a brought Doctor Who back on form with a bang, "from the eerie handmines, to the glorious return of Missy to some excellent clowning around from Capaldi, this episode had it all.", while TV.com said the "episode made me care about Doctor Who and its characters by playing on the show's strengths—especially the relationship between the Doctor and the Master, who's still stealing scenes thanks to a perfect performance from Michelle Gomez"

The episode can be viewed on iPlayer in the United Kingdom, on iView in Australia and on YouTube in the United States, where BBC America have released the whole episode.

You can read Doctor Who News's review of the episode on our reviews site.

4.58 million watched Doctor Who, The Magician's Apprentice in the UK, according to unofficial overnight viewing figures.

Doctor Who was the highest rated show on BBC One for the day, just above Casualty, which had 4.34 million watching. The day was won by The X Factor which had an audience of 7.33 million.

Last year's series opener, Deep Breath, Peter Capalidi's first story, had an overnight audience of 6.8 million.

A final figure, including those who record the programme and watch it later, will be released next week, and is likely to show a substantial increase on the initial figure.

The BBC have released clips looking behind the scenes of tonight's series opener of Doctor Who, The Magician's Apprentice.


A full review of the episode can be found on Doctor Who Reviews

Further publicity for tonight's episode of Doctor Who occured this morning on London's Abbey Road, where Peter Capaldi, Jenna Coleman and "friends" recreated an iconic image ...

Viewers to BBC Two this morning had a surprise when the channel transmitted a trailer for the second episode in this year's series, The Witch's Familiar, some twelve hours before the first episode is broadcast.

The trailer went out at 7.25am, just after a screening of the 1934 film Anne of Green Gables, and contained spoilers from episode one.

This is not the first instance of the BBC releasing information too early. In 2013 the Blu-Ray version of The Name of the Doctor was distributed in the US before transmission of the episode, while in 1983 the Target novelisation of the twentieth anniversary story The Five Doctors, was available up to two weeks before transmission.