The BBC Press Office has today published a list of 2009’s 20 most watched TV programmes on their iPlayer service, and episodes of both Doctor Who and its spin off Torchwood are included!

The Doctor Who Easter special, Planet of the Dead, came 8th, with 811,800 total streams during its original week online back in April. Meanwhile, the first episode of Torchwood Series 3, Children of Earth, was watched 559,800 times on the platform in July, finishing 13th.

The iPlayer service is celebrating its two year anniversary and has this year reached record-breaking numbers of 88.2million streams. Stay tuned!

admin Planet of the Dead, Torchwood

It feels like only yesterday we were sitting down to watch Planet of the Dead on TV, but time certainly does fly because you can now take home this year’s Easter special on DVD and Blu-ray!

The episode, written by Russell T Davies and Gareth Roberts, saw the Doctor finding himself on a mysterious desert planet after the London bus he was riding on took a substantial detour into danger, and was released in the United Kingdom on both formats today. 

You can check out the covers for the DVD and Blu-ray releases here and here. The episode was released to buy in America yesterday.

admin Merchandise, Planet of the Dead

Australian Whovians will finally get to see this year’s Doctor Who Easter special when the episode makes its official debut Down Under this weekend!

The seasonal adventure sees the Tenth Doctor (David Tennant) joining forces with Lady Christina (Michelle Ryan) when the bus they are travelling on takes a dangerous detour into a world of terror.

Planet of the Dead will transmit on ABC1 on Saturday 31st May at 7:30PM. Enjoy the show!

admin Planet of the Dead

After much fan speculation, BBC DVD has confirmed that this year’s Easter episode WILL be released on stunning Blu-ray format!

The Blu-ray edition of Planet of the Dead, which saw the Doctor finding himself on a mysterious desert planet after the London bus he was riding on took a substantial detour into danger, will be released on the same day as its DVD volume, on June 29th 2009.

The episode was the first in the show’s history to be filmed and broadcast in High-definition, and with the Blu-ray release fans can enjoy the story again and again in all its sizzling HD glory!

To guarantee yourself your very own copy, you can now pre-order both the DVD and Blu-ray volumes over at Amazon.co.uk!

In reply to all of your queries regarding a boxset of all of the specials, all we can say at the moment is that nobody knows for sure. It’s likely that a boxset WILL be released however, although taking in account the transmission dates for the last two, it probably won’t be released until Spring 2010…

It’s better to be safe than sorry, though, so if, like us, you’d rather wait for any boxset confirmation, we’d advise it’s probably easier for you to not buy any of the specials on their individual volumes. You can always buy them later on if a boxset never happens. As always, we’ll keep you updated on the matter!

admin Merchandise, Planet of the Dead

Official viewing figures for the Doctor Who Easter special, Planet of the Dead, have been released by BARB.

The final figures show that the episode, which was shown on BBC One and BBC HD on Saturday 11th April, was watched by an audience of 9.54million viewers, making Doctor Who the 5th most watched programme of the week.

Meanwhile, the episode was watched by an additional 200,000 over on the BBC’s HD channel, the first time Doctor Who has been broadcast in the format. This is also the highest rating the HD channel has ever achieved.

Finally, the BBC One repeat of the episode on Sunday 12th April was watched by an audience of 0.91million.

admin Planet of the Dead, Ratings

2|entertain have released the DVD cover for this year’s Easter special, Planet of the Dead.

The DVD will be released on 29th June 2009, with the RRP price of £15.99.

Bionic Woman and Merlin star Michelle Ryan plays the mysterious Lady Christina de Souza who joins the Doctor on a bus-trip which takes a very unexpected detour into danger. British comedy star Lee Evans also joins the cast playing a character called Malcolm whose life becomes connected to the Doctor’s under extraordinary circumstances and Noma Dumezweni returns as Captain Erisa Magambo – last seen helping Rose and Donna save the world in Turn Left. 

admin Merchandise, Planet of the Dead

Overnight ratings for Planet of the Dead show that the episode was watched by an unofficial audience of 8.41million viewers, making Doctor Who the most watched programme on BBC One yesterday!

With a 39.6% of the total television audience, the Easter special was also the second most watched programme on TV for the whole day, being beaten only by the launch of Britain’s Got Talent on ITV1, which scored a viewship of 10.52million. 0.46million people tuned into Doctor Who Confidential on BBC3, a 2.2% share.

Official viewing figures will be released by BARB in 10 days.

admin Planet of the Dead, Ratings

So, that’s that! Welcome to the post-PotD Doctor Who world everyone! After weeks and weeks of speculation, rumours, theories and set reports, Planet of the Dead has just had its official debut on BBC One and BBC HD! The episode saw a London bus take a detour to an alien world, where the Doctor joined forces with the extraordinary Lady Christina to fight the mysterious planets’ terrifying secrets…

Please post your reactions to the episode below. Naturally, this means that this news article is a SPOILER ZONE. Do not read any of the comments if you haven’t seen the episode and don’t want to know any details about it! We can’t wait to read what you have to say!

Sorry, there are no polls available at the moment.

PS. Well done to all of you Carmen’s out there who correctly guessed that number #4 of yesterday’s teasers was the red herring – you saw right through us!

admin Discussions, Planet of the Dead

After weeks of waiting and speculation, we’ve finally arrived at our final destination! This year’s Easter special, Planet of the Dead, will make its official debut on BBC One and BBC HD tonight at 6:45PM!

We hope you all enjoy the show, and don’t forget to come straight back here afterwards, at 7:45PM, to join in with our episode discussion!

admin Planet of the Dead

The wait is nearly over, folks! This time tomorrow we’ll be just hours away from the anticipated premiere of this year’s Easter special, Planet of the Dead.

In the mean time, we’ve got seven EXCLUSIVE teasers to whet your appetites, one of which we’ve made up. Can you spot the lie?

We’ve hidden the teasers for those of you who don’t to be spoiled, but for those of you who do, highlight the white space below to see our clues!

1) The Doctor wishes Christina a “Happy Easter!” while enjoying his very own chocolate egg!
2) The Doctor and Christina share a quick kiss.
3) The Doctor uses a mobile phone to ring UNIT.
4) Malcolm has photos of the Time Lord all over his bedroom wall.
5) The TARDIS is found parked in the gardens at Buckingham Palace.
6) Lady Christina is arrested.
7) The contents of Lady Christina’s bag include a hammer and a spade.

Let us know your thoughts on which is the red herring!

admin Planet of the Dead