It has been revealed that the broadcast of The Waters of Mars on BBC America on Saturday brought the channel their highest ever viewing figures.

An audience of over 1.1million tuned in for the US debut of David Tennant’s penultimate adventure, which saw the Tenth Doctor arriving on Mars where the head of Bowie Base One, Captain Adelaide Brooke, was far from impressed by his uninvited appearance.

Senior vice president of BBC America, Richard De Croce, said: “The final specials starring David Tennant have opened the door for new audiences to this iconic series while taking long-time fans on an incredible journey.”

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BARB have today published the finalised viewing figures for The Waters of Mars, confirming that the episode was watched by an official audience of 10.32million, making Doctor Who the 5th most watched programme of the week!

The Tenth Doctor’s penultimate story was inevitably beaten by The X Factor, Strictly Come Dancing and I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here!, however, it achieved an audience of 376,000 on BBC HD - the channel’s highest ever rating to date!

Meanwhile, 0.63million tuned in for the accompanying edition of Confidential, Is There Life On Mars?, on BBC3, with a further 100,000 watching on BBC HD.

» What did YOU think of The Waters of Mars? Share your thoughts!

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The BBC have confirmed that Sunday night’s broadcast of The Waters of Mars on BBC1 and BBC HD achieved an Appreciation Index figure of 88.

In a nutshell, the AI is a score of how much the viewing public enjoyed a particular programme, and the average score for a BBC/ITV drama is around 77. The AI is decided by a panel made up of members of the public who rate a show between 1 and 100.

Yesterday, it was revealed that the episode was watched by an unofficial audience of 9.13million, peaking at 9.6million.

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Overnight ratings for The Waters of Mars show that the episode was watched by an unofficial audience of 9.13million viewers.

33.9% of the total television audience sat down to watch the Doctor’s return to our screens on BBC One, and the figure peaked at 9.6million in the last 10 minutes, with an additional 310,000 tuning in on BBC HD.

This means that Doctor Who was the third most watched programme of the day, just behind The X Factor results show and the launch of the new series of I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! over on ITV1.

Meanwhile, the accompanying instalment of Doctor Who Confidential, Is There Life On Mars?, was watched by 590,000 on BBC3, and a further 100,000 on BBC HD.

Final figures will be released by BARB in 10 days time.

» Share the journey - let us know what you thought of The Waters of Mars!

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The waiting is finally over - and about time too! After suffering painful withdrawal symptoms since April, the latest Doctor Who special, The Waters of Mars, has just had its official debut on BBC1 and BBC HD. And what a special it was!

The long-awaited adventure, which has been built up to with months of tantalizing teasers, press screenings and cast interviews, saw the Doctor arriving on Mars, but the head of Bowie Base One, Captain Adelaide Brooke, was far from impressed by his uninvited appearance. They soon found themselves under attack from a deadly water-based threat, and the Time Lord encountered troubles much closer to home…

The staff here at WhovianNet have been hard at work these past few weeks bringing you all the latest information you need, but we’re not quite finished yet! We now bring you our live discussion for tonight’s episode, and we’ll soon be updating all of our content over at the main site, too!

In the meantime, though, feel free to let us and other visitors know what you thought of the Tenth Doctor’s spectacular return to our small screens by leaving your reactions as a comment on this post - the perfect way for you to share in the journey with your fellow fans! 

Did his penultimate adventure whisk you away on a tidal wave of emotions, or was the tale of the Red Planet a bore? Whether you loved it or loathed it, we want to know (both sobs and squees permitted!), so what are you waiting for!?

As always, please avoid the comments if you haven’t seen the episode yet. It’ll be up on the BBC iPlayer shortly, and it’s also repeated this coming Wednesday 18th November at 8:00PM on BBC3! For fans across the pond in countries that are still waiting for the episode, feel free to head back here following your relevant airdates and share your thoughts as well! Oh, and don’t forget to keep refreshing this page to view the very latest comments!

Check back in with us tomorrow (Monday) for overnight ratings!

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The journey starts here! We’re now just a few short hours away from the debut of the latest Doctor Who special, The Waters of Mars, in the United Kingdom, which means that after the long months, weeks, days and minutes of waiting, we’re finally here at last!

It has been seven months that might as well have been an eternity, and it’s hard to believe that it was all the way back in April that we last saw those glistening titles sweeping through the vortex, and that iconic theme tune signalling in the start of a brand new adventure…

Well, time really has flown by, because the long-awaited hour-long special will have its official debut tonight on BBC One and BBC HD from 7:00PM! Are you ready for the Tenth Doctor’s penultimate story? Got anything special planned to celebrate his return to our screens? So excited you’re having difficulty making sense of all these words!? Let us know how you’re feeling by leaving your pre-transmission thoughts below!

There may be one or two updates during the course of the day, depending on whether or not we can sit still long enough to write them, but if not, all that there is left for us to say is… enjoy the show, folks! And don’t forget to join us afterwards at 8:00PM on the dot to share all of your post-WoM views…

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As UK fans cross off the remaining hours left until the BBC’s debut of The Waters of Mars tomorrow night, it has been announced that the anticipated special will air on New Zealand’s Prime channel on Sunday 29th November at 7:30PM.

Meanwhile, the episode will premiere in Canada on SPACE at 9:00PM ET on Saturday 19th December.

The Flood will indeed be well and truly spreading worldwide over the coming weeks, with broadcast dates for Australia and America already set for Sunday 6th December and Saturday December 19th, respectively. Stick with us!

» Interested in The Waters of Mars? Keep on top of the next special here!

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The press in the UK has been inundated with Waters of Mars festivities this week, as the nation holds its breath in anticipation for its long-awaited debut on Sunday night.

Naturally, the episode has made it to the cover of various different listings magazines, including Radio Times, Total TV Guide and TV & Satelitte Week, and each contains their own preview of the special.

Lindsay Duncan, who plays Captain Adelaide Brooke, told TV & Satelitte Week: “[Adelaide] is in charge of the research station on Mars and is a very strong, reliable woman with great leadership qualities. She is really challenged by events that take place on Mars, but rises to the challenge admirably. She’s a heroine.”

The actress has also spoken to Total TV Guide about the tremendous amount of running she had to do during filming. “David Tennant is far too fast,” she joked. “I wouldn’t say I became competitive, but I did think, ‘Well, bloody hell, if there’s running going on, then I’m running. I ended up straining a muscle in my thigh…”

David Tennant is also out and about promoting his penultimate story as the Tenth Doctor, and you can keep up to date with his appearances with our schedule, which you can check out here.

» Interested in The Waters of Mars? Keep on top of the next special here!

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Ahead of its long-awaited debut on Sunday night, Russell T Davies has spoken to Shortlist about the upcoming Doctor Who special, The Waters of Mars, and revealed that it’s still child-safe despite the fact it has been billed as the scariest episode yet…

“It’s dark in comparison to some episodes but it is completely child-safe,” the outgoing showrunner said. ”There’s no blood or gore but there’s a lot of emotion and psychological fear so I think the kids will be all right, but Mum and Dad will be so scared they’ll need their hands held!”

He added: “Drama’s not safe and it’s not pretty and it’s not kind. People expect the basic template of television drama where there might be naughty villains, but everyone ends up having a nice cup of tea. You’ve got to do big moral choices and show the terrible things people do in terrible situations. Drama is failing if it doesn’t do that.”

» Interested in The Waters of Mars? Keep on top of the next special here!

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The build up to The Waters of Mars continues, and the official Doctor Who website has today treated us to a brand new behind the scenes video!

The sneak peek offers fans a rare glimpse of filming, and producer Nikki Wilson is on hand to give us a guided tour on location at The National Botanical Gardens of Wales, which doubles as Bowie Base One in the episode.

Hop over to the BBC site to watch it - not long now!

» Interested in The Waters of Mars? Keep on top of the next special here!

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