Doctor Who: The Impossible Astronaut - Overnight Ratings

Unofficial overnight viewing figures indicate that Doctor Who performed well for BBC One last night, with a viewership of 6.5 million and an audience share of 37%.

The viewing figure is a fine achievement, especially considering Doctor Who being shown in earliest time slot since the programme returned in 2005, and having to compete with the hot weather that the UK is currently enjoying.

Doctor Who: The Impossible Astronaut was BBC One's most-watched programme of the day, and the second most watched overall, behind ITV1's Britain's Got Talent, which was shown much later at 8.00pm and attracted 9.5 million viewers.

ITV1 scheduled March of the Dinosaurs as a rival for Doctor Who, but the movie only managed 1.3 million viewers.

7 million viewers watched the final fifteen minutes of Doctor Who, but when the episode finished, BBC One's audience plummeted to just 3.2 million for a live 'So You Think You Can Dance'.

Directly after Doctor Who on CBBC, 'My Sarah Jane: A Tribute to Elisabeth Sladen' proved very successful with an audience of 0.71 million (4.1%).

At 7.00pm on BBC Three, Doctor Who Confidential was watched by 0.55 million viewers, with an additional 40,000 watching on BBC HD.

The official figures, which will included viewers who recorded the programme and watched it later, will be published next week. The consolidated ratings are usually 2 million higher than the overnights.

(Source: The Doctor Who News Page)