Doctor Who was streamed 10 million times on iPlayer over Christmas

The Doctor Who Christmas special, The Church on Ruby Road, was the fifth most watched series throughout the BBC's festive fortnight.

It received 1.79 million streams over the festive period, which saw the first full episode of Ncuti Gatwa as the Doctor as he met his companion Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson).

Dan McGolpin, director of BBC iPlayer and channels, said: "It's wonderful to see that viewers came to BBC iPlayer in record numbers over the festive period.

"Nowhere else would they have found the same range of high-quality British programming to keep them gripped, make them laugh or to provide companionship and news at that special time.

"And with a whole host of compelling drama, comedy, factual programming, entertainment and sport landing on iPlayer in 2024, viewers can look forward to a great year ahead."

The episode itself, which aired on Christmas Day, had an overnight rating of 4.73 million, which was slightly higher than the final 60th anniversary special.

The Giggle received 4.62 million overnight viewers and 6.85 million over seven days.

The Church on Ruby Road was the third most watched show on Christmas Day, coming behind The King's Christmas Broadcast (with 7.48 million viewers) and the Strictly Come Dancing Christmas special (with 5.29 million viewers).

The forthcoming season of Doctor Who is slated to debut on BBC One and Disney Plus in May 2024, with a trailer of the exciting new season being released on Christmas Day.

The clip gave fans a glimpse of what to expect from Gatwa's first full season as the Doctor, including some guest stars - Indira Varma and Jonathan Groff - and the Doctor and Ruby's adventure with the Beatles in the 1960s.

Doctor Who is available to watch on BBC iPlayer and on BritBox – you can sign up for a 7-day free trial here.

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