This Week In DOCTOR WHO History: Sept 15th to Sept 21st - Warped Factor - Words in the Key of Geek.

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This Week In DOCTOR WHO History: Sept 15th to Sept 21st

Series Nine gets underway, there are HUGE numbers for a little-loved Dalek adventure, and an old friend finds its way out of storage this week in Doctor Who history.


Click on any red text to read our full retrospectives/reviews for that episode. All dates and viewing figures are for UK premier broadcasts unless otherwise stated.

September 15th
Those huge numbers for a little-loved Dalek adventure we mentioned at the top of the page came back in 1979 when an enormous 13.8 million people were treated to the Fourth Doctor and episode three of Destiny of the Daleks! Now that's how we kick off another week in Doctor Who history.

Some good news for you - on this day in 2011 the tenth and final episode of Torchwood: Miracle Day was broadcast. Titled The Blood Line, 5.13 million viewers saw Captain Jack's blood injected into some big vagina-type thing that ran through the middle of the Earth, or something like that? And then Jack and Rex got to live immortal-ever-after in a small cottage in Devon, or something like that? Either way it was over.

Also on this day, in 2012, we went back to the Wild West with the Eleventh Doctor. 8.42 million of Britain's finest joined us on a journey to A Town Called Mercy.


September 16th
Episode 3 of The Tomb of the Cybermen was broadcast on this day in 1967, and watched by 7.2 million viewers. Two regenerations later and Mary Tamm is preparing to audition for the role of Jadis in the BBC's 1978 production of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe! First though she's got to finish part 3 of The Ribos Operation for the 7.9 million viewers tuning in.


September 17th
Back in 1966 episode 2 of the First Doctor pure historical adventure The Smugglers was watched by 4.9 million viewers. Then in 1977, the Fourth Doctor continued to put up mighty impressive numbers, with 9.8 million viewers tuning in to part 3 of Horror of Fang Rock.

It's wireless time now and the fourth part of the Third Doctor radio adventure The Paradise Of Death was broadcast from 6:32pm on BBC Radio  this day in 1993.

And finally for this day,y we go back to 2011 and join the 6.77 million viewers sat watching the Eleventh Doctor in The God Complex


September 18th 
We turn the clock back to 1965 for part 2 of Galaxy 4 (titled Trap of Steel) which was watched by 9.5 million viewers. Then in 1976 we have part three of The Masque of Mandragora which was broadcast that Saturday evening at 6:11pm, and watched by 9.20 million viewers.


September 19th
Do you know what? I'll tell you what! Until 2015 not a single episode of Doctor Who had received its debut broadcast on this day throughout the show's long history. And then Series Nine of Doctor Who came along and changed all that, because on Saturday September 19th 2015 the quite magnificent The Magician's Apprentice debuted and received almost universal praise from critics around the world.

Sadly it wasn't all good news the following morning as the overnight viewing figures indicated the episode was watched by just 4.58 million viewers on BBC1, the lowest overnight figure for a series opener since the show returned in 2005. The consolidated figures, which take into account those people who either recorded and watched the episode later or who streamed it on the BBC iPlayer within 7 days, would take that number up to 6.54 million. Still the lowest consolidated rating for the programme since the Matt Smith episode The Crimson Horror.

On the same night 10 million people would tune into The X-Factor on ITV1. Is that proof that the British public are largely idiots? We'll let you decide.

You know what else September 19th brings us? Well I shall tell you - it would've been Caroline John's birthday. The actress who magnificently portrayed Third Doctor companion Liz Shaw was born this day in 1940, and sadly passed away in  2012 at the age of 71.


September 20th
Two from the scarf wearing Fourth Doctor to get things underway on this bumper day, starting with part four of Terror of the Zygons which arrived on our screens on this day in 1975 to a welcoming audience of 7.2 million viewers. Then it's the fourth and final part of The Leisure Hive, which was broadcast in 1980 to 4.5 million viewers.

Two regenerations later and we have the third part of The Trial Of A Time Lord. The individual story was titled The Mysterious Planet and it was broadcast in 1986 at 4:47pm, which was a whole minute later than the previous week! It really is just way too early in the day for Doctor Who, and only 3.9 million viewers turned up!

Two Scottish Doctors complete our day. First up it's back to 1989 and part three of Battlefield, which saw the Seventh Doctor and 3.6 million viewers reunited with Bessie. And wrapping up this day it's the Twelfth Doctor undertaking a Time Heist, with 6.99 million viewers tuning in.


September 21st
Episode 2 of The Mind Robber graced our screens on this day in 1968, and was watched by 6.5 million viewers.

And finally for this week in Doctor Who history - if that picture above doesn't scream 1980s Doctor Who then I don't know what does! I also, like Mel, don't know what was happening half the time but maybe one of the 4.3 million who tuned in to part three of Time and the Rani on this day in 1987 could explain?

That's it for this week, but did you watch any of these adventures live? We'd love to hear your memories about any of them. Apart from Torchwood: Miracle Day obviously. Everything else though, tell us in the comments below.

Until next Sunday...

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