WHO’s In Charge: The DOCTOR’s 50th Anniversary By The Numbers, And Who’s Next

WHO’s In Charge: The DOCTOR’s 50th Anniversary By The Numbers, And Who’s Next

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Just one look around the Web this weekend should have been proof enough, but in case you’ve been unplugged, make no mistake: the DOCTOR WHO 50th Anniversary was a fairly large event around the world. Here’s a recap of the whole shebang, and what’s next for our intrepid Time Lord:

  • When making the move to show THE DAY OF THE DOCTOR simultaneously in 94 countries (not only to thwart “spoilers,” but also to counter piracy of the special), DOCTOR WHO set a Guinness World Record for “Largest-Ever Simulcast of a TV Drama.” It also generated record ratings for BBC America – 2.4 million viewers in its first run at 1:50 pm on Saturday, with another 1.2 million later that evening, easily shattering their previous high water mark. Expectedly, British audiences were over the moon as well, with 10.2 million viewers on BBC One.
  • The theatrical screenings of THE DAY OF THE DOCTOR were highly successful, as well. On Saturday, eleven American cities (including Dallas) held 3D screening events in conjunction with NCM Fathom Events, and the per-screen average of $13,607 for the one-time-only event was higher than the per-screen take for THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE. Monday night’s 3D screening was held in in 660 theaters nationwide, and 320,000 tickets were sold nationwide for an average of $7,155 per location.

Next up for the Doctor: THE TIME OF THE DOCTOR, the Christmas Day special that will give audiences a chance to say goodbye to Matt Smith, and hello to Peter Capaldi. Following the Anniversary, speculation has been running amok as to what this changeover means for the Doctor, especially now that executive producer Steven Moffat has claimed Capaldi is the “first post-regeneration Doctor”:

The 12 regenerations limit is a central part of Doctor Who mythology – science fiction is all about rules, you can’t just casually break them. So if the Doctor can never change again, what’s Peter Capaldi doing in the Christmas special?

WHO fans all now know Rule Number One: The Moffat Lies. All the time. The Daily Mirror also got an unnamed BBC source to talk about the Regeneration Issue:

The riddle of the regeneration problem, something fans have talked about for decades, will be faced head on at Christmas. There is going to be another huge cliffhanger and somehow Peter Capaldi has to join and the series has to continue. The show’s big fans… won’t believe their eyes at Christmas.

Hrmph.

A brief teaser for the special followed THE DAY OF THE DOCTOR:

Also, BBC America released a pair of posters, which denote the new direction of the show as well as its incoming new star.

Click for Full-Size

Click for Full-Size

Geronimo.

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