Jodie Whittaker’s cracking opening episode of ‘Doctor Who‘ saw her land the highest rated debut for the regenerated character since Christopher Eccleston revived the role in 2005.
Whittaker’s debut episode, ‘The Woman Who Fell to Earth’, scored a massive 8.2 million viewers, peaking at 9 million, and a 40.1% audience share, beating the debuts of David Tennant (8M), Matt Smith (7.7M) and Peter Capaldi (6.8M). It’s the largest premiere for a season of ‘Doctor Who’ since Tennant’s 3rd Season in 2008.
The show also beat out the debut of the other massive BBC drama this year, ‘The Bodyguard’. Jed Mercurio’s thriller debuted with overnight ratings of 6.7 million when it launched in August. It did then go on to top 11 million viewers (avg. 10.4m) and land a 47.8% audience share for the finale.
‘The Woman Who Fell to Earth’ saw Whittaker, quite literally, crash onto BBC One on Sunday evening, as she took over the iconic role of The Doctor in her first full-episode. We find her still recovering from her recent regeneration, having lost, not only her sonic screwdriver, but also her beloved TARDIS. We were introduced to her three new travelling companions as well. Young lad Ryan (Tosin Cole), police officer Yasmin (Mandip Gill), and Ryan’s step-grandfather Graham (Bradley Walsh). It’s an interesting new remix of the ‘Doctor Who’ formula, which seems to have given the franchise a serious shot in the arm.
Episode 2 – ‘The Ghost Monument’, which arrives next Sunday, finds the Doctor and her new friends still reeling from their first encounter. Can they stay alive long enough in a hostile alien environment to solve the mystery of Desolation? And just who are Angstrom and Epzo? You can watch the trailer above.
‘Doctor Who‘ continues Sunday nights on BBC One, starting next week at 6.55pm.
