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See broadcasts for BBC2The Science Of Doctor Who

Last updated 02 January 2017
Broadcast: Thursday 14th November 2013
9:00pm-10:00pm GMT < > « » Premiere < > « »
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Featuring: Brian Cox, Matt Smith

The adventures of the Time Lord have enthralled viewers for over 50 years, but they have also inspired generations to ponder what it would really be like to follow in the footsteps of the Doctor. Joined by celebrity guests, Professor Brian Cox draws on the latest theories as well as 200 years on scientific discoveries to tackle some of the big questions raised by the long-running show. Will it ever be possible to travel in time? Does extraterrestrial life exist in our galaxy? And how do you build something as fantastic as the Tardis?
Synopsis Source: Radio Times
Broadcast Source: BBC

Ratings Information:


Initial figures: 2.600m viewers (overnight), 12.1% audience share, 16th place day
Consolidated figures: 3.190m viewers (+7 days), 13.3% audience share, AI 85
Online player figures: 0.62m requests as of 5th December 2013

The show was the second highest rated programme on BBC Two for the day. It scored a 12.1% share of the total audience, beating the ITV offering, Breathless, which had 2.2 million watching. On BBC One the fundraising concert, Children in Need Rocks, had an average of 4.2 million viewers. Bedlam, on Channel 4 had 1.2 million watching with Slaughter at the Farm: Countdown to Murder getting 1.3 million. Overall The Science of Doctor Who was the 16th most watched programme of the day.

Notes


List:
07 Nov 2013Trailer
14 Nov 2013Pick of the Day, by Patrick Mulkern

LinkCredit: BBC Two 
 

SCIENCE "But that's ridiculous!" scoffed science teacher Ian Chesterton 50 years ago in the very first episode, as he struggled to grasp the time-bending concepts at the heart of the series. He'd certainly have appreciated this enlightening lecture from the Royal Institution in London, in which the BBC's favourite real-life physicist, Brian Cox, explains that, in a small way, we are all time travellers and how we really are now beginning to reach out to other worlds.

In just one hour Cox can't cover all the wild ideas thrown up by five decades of Doctor Who - not even how a vessel can be bigger on the inside - and at times his blackboard diagrams veer into dry Open University territory, but Cox's skill at communicating complex ideas prevails.

Inspired by his own hero, Michael Faraday, who lectured in this very hall in the 19th century, he keeps things jolly with a bit of audience participation. There are practical demonstrations from Charles Dance, Rufus Hound and Jim Al-Khalili - and even time for a jaunt in the Tardis with Matt Smith's Doctor.

Credit: Radio Times