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Here’s a look at the viewing figures for Season 56’s ‘The Daleks’ Master Plan’ so far. We’ll be doing this a little differently to S55’s, with only the overnights and 7-day figures out as of now. There’s also the consolidated rankings for Sunday, as well as the BBC’s rankings to give a clearer picture.

‘The Carnivorous Jungle’ Overnight - 4.39m. 7-day - 5.96m. Day ranking - 1st. BBC consolidated ranking - 1st. 7-day ranking - 2nd.

Things kick off with respectable overnights of 4.39m with an audience share of approx. 27.7%. It consolidated to 5.96m, up by 1.67m; placing second for the week behind talent show behemoth (somehow) ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ on ITV. Doctor Who was the most-watched show that Sunday, and also the BBC’s top show for the week. This was the highest 7-day chart placing overall since Season 53’s ‘Praxeus, Part One’ back in 2019, which also placed second. ITV’s competition was drama ‘Grace’, with Who claiming victory by almost a million viewers.

‘The Guardian’s Tale’ Overnight - 4.03m. 7-day - 5.50m. Day ranking - 1st. BBC consolidated ranking - 2nd. 7-day ranking - 3rd.

A drop for episode two, with overnights down by 0.36m. An additional 1.47m gave it a 7-day total of 5.50m, a 0.46m drop from before. Eurovision dominated that week and also for the BBC, placing Doctor Who 2nd for them, and 3rd overall, still behind BGT. Competition was much tougher; a live parade celebrating the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, which defeated Who in the overnights by almost a million, but narrowly managed to claw back with the 7-day numbers. It shows how consolidated figures can make all the difference.

‘The Face of the Enemy’ Overnight - 3.86m. 7-day - 5.41m. Day ranking - 1st. BBC consolidated ranking - 1st. 7-day ranking - 2nd.

Despite a further drop in overnights by 0.17m, and 7-day figures by a slim 0.09m, the rankings matched those of ‘The Carnivorus Jungle’, topping the ratings on Sunday, and for the BBC that week. An extra 1.55m was added to make the consolidated figure of 5.41m. Doctor Who was back up against ‘Grace’ on ITV, and claimed victory again. As this episode’s consolidated figures were only out on the week of this newsletter’s release, for the next one, we’ll be looking at overnights only.

‘The Cry of the Past’ Overnight - 4.12m. Day ranking - 1st.

Suffice to say the cliffhanger did hook in some extra overnight viewers: 0.26m more in fact. ITV’s competition this time was ‘Midsomer Murders’ which previously went up against last season’s premiere ‘Rebirth, Part One’, and lost out by quite a margin. For the overnights, Doctor Who won out yet again. As it stands, ‘The Daleks’ Master Plan’ is performing very strongly, with rankings all hitting within the top three at this stage consistently, not seen in Doctor Who’s viewing figures since Season 48 in 2011. Compared to its 1965-66 version, the consolidated ratings are a lot lower, hovering around 5-6 million, but have fared better in the rankings, with the original averaging 38th through its run. So how will the rest of the serial fare ratings-wise? Well, for ITV’s competition, this Sunday’s ‘The Secret of Kembel’ is pitted against the final of ‘Britain’s Got Talent’, whilst episode six plays against ‘Soccer Aid’. The outcome for those, and the ratings, will be revealed in the future. WIDWWA

Season 56 Ratings

Overnights

Ep1 - 8 May 22 - 4.39m - 1st

Ep2 - 15 May 22 - 4.03m - 1st

Ep3 - 22 May 22 - 3.86m - 1st

Ep4 - 29 May 22 - 4.12m - 1st

7-Day Figures

Ep1 - 8 May 22 - 5.96m -2nd

Ep2 - 15 May 22 - 5.50m - 3rd

Ep3 - 22 May 22 - 5.41m - 2nd