Bradley Walsh to face Bradley Walsh in Doctor Who/The Chase ratings battle

ITV's The Chase hosted by Walsh will kick off its new series of celebrity specials at the same time as the next episode of Doctor Who, meaning Walsh will be fronting major Sunday evening series on both the BBC and ITV.

Walsh’s next Doctor Who series 11 adventure – The Ghost Monument – airs on BBC1 at 6.55pm on Sunday 14th October. The Chase Celebrity Special begins on ITV at 7pm on the same night.

Because Doctor Who runs until around 7.45pm, while The Chase Celebrity Special runs until 8pm, there will be little chance of flitting between them.

ITV and the BBC initially co-operated to allow Walsh to film both Doctor Who and new episodes of The Chase, as the actor and presenter previously told Radio Times.

“I let all the producers at ITV and the BBC do all the plate-spinning, and they sort out the dates,” he said.

“They're fantastic – my thanks to both ITV and BBC for letting me do these jobs concurrently.”

However, The Chase co-star Anne Hegerty has revealed that his dual roles were causing delays on the ITV gameshow.

Now, fans of Bradley Walsh have a tough decision on their hands. Do they want to watch sci-fi dramatic actor Bradley, or glitzy Mr Showbiz Bradley? Bradley Walsh looking slick, or Bradley Walsh in a wig? Bradley with a Cyberman, or Bradley with the Sinnerman?

And will they have to make the exact same tough decision every week, given that this 10-episode series of The Chase is set to continue throughout the rest of Doctor Who’s 2018 run?

Realistically, of course, fans can watch both shows – ITV has delayed channel +1, and both broadcasters have catch-up services – but when it comes to watching live, people are going to have to make some difficult choices. Which one will you be opting for?

Then again, on a more positive note, this scheduling clash also lays the groundwork for a completely Bradley Walsh-themed evening of TV at some point in the near future – if we could ONLY get Channel 4 and 5 involved, we’d have a full house.

Doctor Who continues on BBC1 on Sundays, as does The Chase Celebrity Special