It’s been good news and bad news for Peter Capaldi, the latest actor to play the Doctor.
The former Thick of It star missed out on a tilt at winning a National Television Award in the top drama category, making him the first of four successive Doctor Who leads not to be nominated for the award since the sci-fi show was rebooted by the BBC in 2005.
However it also emerged on Tuesday that Capaldi’s first Christmas special as the time-traveller with the sonic screwdriver delivered BBC America its highest viewing figures for the show yet.
BBC Worldwide said Doctor Who: Last Christmas averaged 2.3 million viewers on Christmas Day for the channel in the US (live viewing + three day catch-up), capping a year in which the show scored its best ratings yet on the cable network.
The show attracted 8.3 million viewers (taking into account seven day catch-up viewing) on BBC1 in the UK, down from 11.1 million for the 2013 Christmas special.
So if Doctor Who is following the Downton ratings trajectory – falling in the UK, rising in the US – can we expect more stetsons and Daleks in Manhattan-type episodes in 2015?
If only Monkey could borrow the Tardis to go and find out.
