‘Doctor Who’ Hits BBC America Ratings High With Peter Capaldi’s First Season

The new Doctor averages more than 2 million viewers during his maiden run

ADRIAN ROGERS, BBC/BBC WORLDWIDE

The mystery is solved: Peter Capaldi is a hit as the Doctor.

The first season of “Doctor Who” with Peter Capaldi in the title role wound up being the highest-rated season of the series on BBC America, the network said Monday. Overall, the season, which featured Jenna Coleman guest-starring, averaged 2.035 million viewers in Live + 3 Day ratings, which take into account viewers who tuned in for the original telecast and over the next three days.

This year’s Christmas special, “Doctor Who: Last Christmas,” also fared well, drawing 2.312 million viewers with its Christmas Day airing and racking up 2.616 million viewers in Live + 3 numbers.

Capaldi’s inaugural Christmas special more than doubled the numbers of 2010’s “A Christmas Carol,” which marked Matt Smith‘s first Christmas special in the role of the Doctor.

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