Overnight figures show The Star Beast had an average audience of 5.08m from 6:30pm on BBC One. It was the second most-watched programme of the day across all channels, only behind Strictly Come Dancing.

Posting figures any TV drama could only wish for in 2023, Doctor Who beat ITV’s I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here and became the biggest drama launch of the year. Overnight figures were posted on Twitter/X by BBC News correspondent Lizo Mzimba.

Consolidated ratings released by BARB show that The Star Beast added over 2.5m to consolidate to 7,605,000 over the following 7-days. This figure is UK viewing only and includes those who watched on BBC iPlayer and on catch-up within the first week of original broadcast.

Doctor Who: The Star Beast was the 3rd most watched title of the week across all channels, the 10th most watched episode of a TV programme of the week (7 episodes of I’m A Celebrity + 2 episodes of Strictly Come Dancing), BBC One’s 3rd most-watched programme of the week and the most watched drama of the week.

The top-10 programmes of the week:

1. I’m A Celebrity (Mon) – 9,628,000

2. I’m A Celebrity (Thu) – 9,410,000

3. I’m A Celebrity (Wed) – 9,322,000

4. I’m A Celebrity (Tue) – 9,168,000

5. Strictly Come Dancing (Sat) – 9,069,000

6. Strictly Come Dancing (Sun) – 8,794,000

7. I’m A Celebrity (Fri) – 8,645,000

8. I’m A Celebrity (Sun) – 8,621,000

9. I’m A Celebrity (Sat) – 8,269,000

10. Doctor Who: The Star Beast (Sat) – 7,605,000