MAD ABOUT TELLY
DOCTOR Who lost nearly three million fans on Saturday - but still exterminated Ant and Dec.
The second episode peaked at just under 8m viewers and averaged 7.3m.
The opening show, starring Christopher Eccleston, 41, and Billie Piper, 22, attracted 10.5m.
But the second episode still got nearly 2m more viewers than Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway when they went head-to-head at 7pm.
Favourites
An appearance by Tony Blair, 51, being interviewed by Little Ant and Dec (10-year-olds James Pallister and Dylan McKenna-Redshaw) was seen by only 6m.
Bookies had made Ant and Dec, both 29, favourites to win the ratings rematch after persuading the PM to appear.
But a BBC spokeswoman claimed Doctor Who was still the "master of Saturday nights".
She added: "Ratings may have been down on the previous week but it was still the evening's most watched show"
Eccleston has already said he will quit as The Doctor because he doesn't want to be typecast.
But the BBC said: "We made plans for whether he decided to stay or go by filming two endings to the final episodes."
Casanova star David Tennant, 33, is tipped to take over.
An spokeswoman for ITV said: "Doctor Who is doing very well for the BBC for one hour but our Saturday night is still very strong right through the night."
Caption: 3m LOSS: Stars Billie and Eccleston
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