It really makes me happy that the show gets these figures. I remember waiting for the ceefax pages to load on the weekly top 100 in the 80s. At the end it felt like an achievement if the show managed to make the chart at all!

We still have iPlayer performance to come - though we'll have to wait until the end of September to see them

In other words, absolutely nothing to worry about - the audience doesn't appear to be giving up on Doctor Who or the new doctor!

I'm sure there will be peaks and troughs in the coming weeks, but so far, so good!

Most watched non-special since The Eleventh Hour. So all that promotion didn't go to waste, then...

Final ratings for Deep Breathe were okay, time shifted roughly as one would expect, but I don't think the time shift has really made up for the slightly disappointing overnight, when alls said and done. Still, it's nothing to be alarmed about.


Hmm, not sure you can really argue that a feature length episode featuring a new Doctor should just be classed as an average episode, tbh. To me, it really fits much better as a special, especially with all the promotion that surrounded it. Same goes for Rose and The Eleventh Hour.

It's not in the same category the Christmas Specials or the anniversary special. Extra promotion for the series or not, it's still episode 1 of series 8... and the most watched serial episode since episode 1 of series 5.

It was not an average episode (your words, not mine ) - but it's not a standalone one, either.

9.17m is better than okay.

I think it's a closer fit to a special though, especially given it's a feature length episode. And although you haven't used the word average episode you are, effectively, judging it exactly the same as an average episode, tbd....

As I said, final ratings are okay, but still a tad disappointing in context. A normal series opener it would have been very good, not so much for a big relaunch through. I would have at least have expected Deep Breathe to get around 9.5 million and it's fallen short. I'm pretty upbeat when it comes to ratings on the whole, as I'm sure you know, but when it comes up a bit short then I'm going to be up front about it.

It's like Dalekbuster523 is in the room...

Anybody missing out on that show should register with GB immediately.


Hopefully we can raise that ratings bar from okay to good at some point.

I sincerely hope you aren't comparing me to that individual.

The weather was nice yesterday and I reckon another 3 million people will watch last night's episode on catch up. The good Dalek story was interesting, although Eccleston had a similar story in 2005, and the action and plot were fantastic.
Also 8-9 million was similar to what many episodes achieved in the classic Pertwee era and that was when we only had three channels and no recording devices.

3 million seems a trifle ambitious. If it can get close to the time shift of the first episode, that would be a decent result.

I was very impressed with last nights DW and in my opinion, it was one of the best nu-Who dalek stories. I was slightly underwhelmed by the overnights though because I feel it deserved more. I agree with you though. If it can get around 2m timeshift viewers to give it a final rating of around 7m, then all will be good in the world, (except for all the horrid things that aren't).

But the BBC are regarding it as a "special" hence the cinema release and a standalone DVD release.

I would think somewhere in the 7.2 million ballpark, plus or minus 100k or so.

...and there have been discussions here debating whether or not a series opener deserves that treatment. It's not on the same level as the 50th and it certainly wasn't in the prime viewing slot as it is at Christmas. It's still a series opener in August... in 2014... and 9.17m is a really, really good figure for it - on an eighth series, no less.

I believe that it should not have been given the star treatment. But the BBC and/or Moffat and his team put it on a pedestal and as such comparisons are being made.

For a show that's 9 years in it's doing incredibly well. I think some people forget that...

51 years surely...........

Of course!!!

I'm particularly alarmed about the awful viewing figures between 1990 and 1995 and again between 1997 and 2004. Absolutely pitiful. The show should be axed immediately.

As for these 2014 ratings, bloody marvellous to see "Deep Breath" passing 9 million and nipping at the heels of Bake Off.

One thing that amazes me is that over a week after it was broadcast Deep Breath is still the fifth most popular programme on IPlayer.

iplayer figures will hopefully be good. It's a shame BARB still have not progressed to incorporating iplayer figures watched on a computer or remote device into the final ratings. They keep making noises about doing it, but progress is painfully slow.

I'm sure it will timeshift really well so not too concerned about the overnight figures.

The AI for this week will be very interesting. 82 last week, whilst still a good score, is rather low for DW and another low score this week would be a bit worrying, as less satisfaction with the show could lead to a reduction in viewing numbers.

I suspect the AI will be higher than it was for 'Deep Breath' (which is no way deserved such a relatively low score). 'Into the Dalek' was more of a 'business as usual' episode: breathless, frenetic, some explosions, etc. Not many of those nasty long, wordy scenes that tax the attention span of so many 21st century viewers.

Good news It definitely benefits from several rewatches too.