Doctor Who Orphan 55, was watched by 4.19 million viewers in the UK yesterday according to unofficial overnight figures.

The rating, representing 20.9% of the total viewing audience made Doctor Who the fifth most popular show on British Television yesterday. Doctor Who was beaten by its ITV opposition, Dancing on Ice, which had 4.51 million viewers.

Top for the day was Call the Midwife, with 6.24 million viewers. Countryfile, the lead into Doctor Who, had 5.13 million. The drama The Trial of Christine Keeler had 3.67 million watching.

The overnight figure counts those who watched the show yesterday. Final figures, released next Monday, will include those who recorded the programme and watched it later and are likely to be substantially higher.

The titles of the next four episodes of Doctor Who have been confirmed in the latest issue of Doctor Who Magazine.
Orphan 55 is written by Ed Hime and directed by Lee Haven Jones. The episode was partly filmed on location in Tenerife. It features actors Col Farrell and Julia Elizabeth Fogle.
In Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror we are taken back to 20th Century New York.

The first script by Nina Metivier for the series continues the recent habit of the Doctor meeting famous characters from history. This time it is the scientist best known for his contributions to the design of the alternating current electricity supply system. Telsar is played by Croatian actor Goran Višnjić, best known for appearing in ER. His great rival Thomas Edison is played by Robert Glenister, who last appeared in Doctor Who in 1984 playing Salateen in the fifth Doctor's final story The Caves of Androzani.

It is directed by Nida Manzoor making her debut on the series The return of everybody's favourite intergalactic policemen is in Fugitive of the Judoon.

This is Vinay Patel's second episode for the series after last season's Demons Of The Punjab. It is also directed by Nida Manzoor, and guest star's Neil Stuke and Jo Martin. Written by Pete McTighe who penned Kerblam! for the last series.

It is directed by Jamie Magnus Stone who was responsible for the acclaimed first episode of this series Spyfall, and guest stars include Matthew McNulty and Joana Borja. The majority of the episode was filmed in South Africa.

The latest issue of Doctor Who Magazine, Number 547, is published today and includes an exclusive interview with Bradley Walsh, who plays Graham in the new series of Doctor Who.

Also in the magazine

• The second part of an exclusive, in-depth interview with showrunner Chris Chibnall.
• Interviews with the new writers of Series 12
• Exclusive previews of the next four episodes.
• The untold story of Denis Alan Print, the Doctor Who merchandise company co-owned by Tom Baker.
• Doctor Who’s top ten Master reveals.
• Behind the scenes at the OFFSTAGE Theatre Group, whose Doctor Who plays and comedy sketches were popular at conventions from 2003 to 2013.
• The Fact of Fiction begins an epic exploration of The Daleks’ Master Plan.
• Part Five of Mistress of Chaos, a new comic-strip adventure featuring the Thirteenth Doctor and her friends.
• The answers to DWM’s Christmas Quiz.
• Reviews of the Season 26 Blu-ray box set and the new vinyl edition of The Web Planet.
• Big Finish previews and reviews, news, prize-winning competitions, The Blogs of Doom and much more.

On sale from Thursday 9 January 2020£5.99 (UK)


DWM 547 is also available as a strictly limited Deluxe Edition, exclusive to WH Smith and store.panini.co.uk priced £9.99.

 In addition to the latest issue of DWM, the Deluxe Edition includes:

• An exclusive 76-minute music CD, featuring 22 classic and rare tracks from 1963 to 1989.
• A 32-page supplement, comprising classic comic-strip stories featuring the Master.
• A giant double-sided poster.
• A Series 12 art card.
• Three Big Finish audio dramas to download.
• Big Finish stickers.

The BBC has released new pictures from the upcoming episode of Doctor Who - Orphan 55.

The story is written by Ed Hime, who penned the 2018 story It Takes You Away and is directed by Lee Haven Jones The episode can be seen on BBC One at 7.10pm next Sunday. North American viewers can see it at 8pm ET, while in Australia the episode debut's is on Thursday at 8pm. In New Zealand, it can be seen at 9am, Monday morning, just a couple of hours after the UK showing.

Full broadcast details can be found here, and ongoing adventures of the Doctor can be found via This Week in Doctor Who.

COMING SOON | Orphan 55

Doctor Who Spyfall Part Two, was watched by 4.6 million viewers in the UK yesterday according to unofficial overnight figures.

The rating, representing 22.6% of the total viewing audience, was disappointing for the series making Doctor Who the fifth most popular show on British Television yesterday. Doctor Who was beaten by its ITV opposition, Dancing on Ice: The Launch, which had 5.14 million viewers.

Top for the day was the return of Call the Midwife, with 6.97 million viewers. Countryfile, the lead into Doctor Who, had 5.04 million. Football also did well with Match of the Day seen by 5.14 million during the afternoon.

With overnight figures for the whole week now available, Doctor Who is the 24th and 28th most watched programme. Top for the week was the New Year Fireworks on BBC One with 10.33 million watching.

The overnight figure counts those who watched the show yesterday. Final figures, released next Monday, will include those who recorded the programme and watched it later and are likely to be substantially higher.

Audience reaction to the first episode of the new series of Doctor Who, Spyfall, is overwhelmingly positive with many reviewers praising the story.

The Mirror said it was an epic start to the new series. "the most exciting thing about the episode is the never-ending twists and turns that quite literally left my jaw hanging open."

Radio Times was equally impressed seeing the story as a vast improvement on the previous series. "Part One races along and is slickly directed by newcomer Jamie Magnus Stone. His grandfather was Magnus Magnusson, the broadcasting legend behind the BBC quiz, Mastermind. A clue hidden in plain sight?"

The Telegraph liked the pace "The episode – the first of a two-parter – zipped along, with Whittaker doing her hyperactive thing and her companions (Bradley Walsh, Tosin Cole and Mandip Gill) given generous amounts of screen time."

Den of Geek loved the plot twists "Spyfall, as you might expect from an episode that’s so gleefully borrowing from 007 and his kin, is a globetrotting adventure that barely ever stands still long enough to catch its breath"

inews compared the episode to the thirteenth Doctor's first season. "Whittaker’s debut series established a Doctor Who that had never looked more slick or cinematic, but Spyfall goes even further, with huge, stylish, lavishly shot set-pieces like a frantic, gun-toting motorbike chase through striking Californian farmland."

The series premiered on New Year's Day on BBC One where it received an Appreciation Index score of 82

Doctor Who Spyfall Part One, was watched by an average of 4.88 million viewers, 21.6% of the total TV audience at the time.

The audience is slightly lower than last year's New Year Special which had an overnight figure of 5.15 million watching.

Doctor Who was the second-highest-rated show for the day with Emmerdale taking top honours with 5 million watching. Coronation Street was third, just behind Doctor Who. The new Steven Moffat series Dracula had 3.57 million watching.

The rating does not include those recording the programme and watching it later. Final ratings will be released in two weeks time which are likely to put Doctor Who as the top-rated show of the day.

Doctor Who returns to TV screens around the world today with the launch of the 38th series of the show, the twelfth since the series returned in 2005. The series returns with Spyfall, written by showrunner Chris Chibnall and starring Jodie Whittaker as the thirteenth Doctor. The series launches on BBC One at 6.55pm on New Year's Day, with the Australian/New Zealand debut about an hour later at 6:55am AEDT/9:00am NZDT on ABC's online iView service and TVNZ 2, and the American/Canadian debut following a few hours later at 8pm ET on BBC America and CTV Sci-Fi channel. Viewers in Australia can also see it on television at at 7.30pm on ABC.

Full broadcast details can be found here, and ongoing adventures of the Doctor can be found via This Week in Doctor Who.

BBC Studios today announced that Forbidden Planet will be releasing brand new, exclusive Doctor Who T-shirts during Series 12, which goes on air from 1st January 2020.

A range of 10 Doctor Who T-shirts will launch during the new series, themed around each week’s episode and available to pre-order at ForbiddenPlanet.com the morning after transmission.

Kicking off the new series, Doctor Who will return to BBC One on 1st January at 6:55pm for a New Year’s Day special named Spyfall, with subsequent episodes broadcasting every Sunday.

Returning for her second season, the Thirteenth Doctor (Jodie Whittaker) will resume her travels through time and space with friends Ryan (Tosin Cole), Yaz (Mandip Gill), and Graham (Bradley Walsh).

Anita Majhu, Senior Licensing Manager at BBC Studios, saidAnthony Garnon, Licensing & Special Projects Manager, Forbidden Planet, saidT-shirts will be available to pre-order online and will be priced at £15.99 RRP.

After a year off, Doctor Who is back and so are we with our festive Predict the Ratings competition! This year readers have the chance to win a copy of this latest series of adventures featuring the Doctor, Graham, Yaz and Ryan on Blu-ray/DVD upon its release date (currently scheduled for March 2020).


The episode is broadcast in the UK on New Year's Day at 6:55pm on BBC One; ITV will broadcast Doctor Who's 'traditional' competition in the form of Emmerdale from 7:00pm, with BBC Two showing Masterchef: The Professionals Rematch 2019 (also at 7:00pm), Channel 4 halfway through The Lion King (6:00pm), and Channel 5 continuing The Two Ronnies: the Unseen Sketches (from 6:20pm). Last year's BBC prime time premiere was the return of Luther: this year it is the new adaptation of Dracula from the pen of Sherlock and of course Doctor Who writers Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss.

For comparison, last year's New Year's Day special, Resolution, was watched by 7.13 million viewers, and achieved 14th place in the weekly chart. Its 7:00pm timeslot put it up against Emmerdale on ITV, The Snow Wolf: A Winter's Tale on BBC Two, Sister Act on Channel 4 and The Morecambe and Wise Show: Look Back in Laughter on Channel 5. Doctor Who easily won its timeslot, but was narrowly beaten later in the evening by old rival Coronation Street (7.17m), and Luther (9.10m); the annual New Year's Day fireworks exploded their way to the top of the chart with 12.39m.


To enter our competition, please send the following details to comp-ratings@doctorwhonews.net with the subject, "No Doctor, I expect you to ...":

• Your name and preferred email address
• Your country of entry (full details will be requested only if you are the winner)
• Your guess at the final viewing figure to the nearest 10,000 (eg.9.99m)
• Your guess at the final position in the chart (eg. 1st) - this will only be used in the event of a tie-break

Terms and Conditions:

• The competition closes at 08:00 GMT, 2nd January 2020
• Only one entry will be accepted per person.
• The competition is open worldwide
• BARB final figures are expected in early 2020, we will contact the winner once they have been published
• The prize is a copy of The Complete Series Twelve on either DVD or Bluray; we will confirm the format with the winner at time of notification.

Good luck and don't forget to watch the series opener yourself! See our guide for current schedules for the episode locally, and visit This Week in Doctor Who for the continuing adventures of all of the Doctors around the world!