How the Time Lord won new companions in the US
- Publication: The Times
- Date: 2013-03-30
- Author: Kaya Burgess, Rhys Blakely
- Page: 9
- Language: English
Forget The X-Factor, Piers Morgan and One Direction, the race to be the biggest British hit on the other side of the Atlantic has a new favourite as Doctor Who becomes a massive global cash-cow for the BBC (Kaya Burgess and Rhys Blakely write).
The Time Lord has exploded into the American mainstream. Its return tonight on BBC One and, crucially, on BBC America, has earned Matt Smith and the Tardis a position on the covers of American magazines. The show now vies with Top Gear for top spot as BBC Worldwide's best-selling programme, available in 206 territories. It was a major contributor to the £155 million headline profits of the BBC's commercial arm last year.
In the US, the season premiere in September of Asylum of the Daleks attracted 1.55 million viewers and was the top-rated cable show in its time slot. The sixth series of Doctor Who was the most downloaded show on American iTunes in 2011, The show — beating series such as Dexter, True Blood and even Glee—also featured on the cover of the legendary TV Guide in December and was in Entertainment Weekly last week ahead of the Doctor's return tonight. The writer, Steven Moffat, has revealed that the finale of series seven would mark the 50th anniversary of the Doctor with a big "revelation". He added: "You're about to learn something about the Doctor that you never knew before. And I think you're in for a shock."
The Doctor first appeared on US television in 1972, in the avatar of Jon Pertwee, but failed to win much more than a small cult following. Four decades on, its most recent Christmas special had 1.4 million viewers on BBC America— a 54 per cent rise on the previous year.
The Doctor Who Mazes of Time game for iPhone and iPad was also one of Apple's Top 10 games.
A New York premiere last summer, attended by Smith and his erstwhile assistant, Karen Gillan, launched the seventh series of the show into the mainstream in the US.
The Los Angeles Times wrote: "The Doctor, ancient and perpetually regenerating Time Lord, saviour of multiple universes, wearer of classic bow ties and trench coats, wielder of the multi-purpose sonic screwdriver and intergalactic protector of Earth, has at long last jumped the pond."
Doctor Who spotters in the States have reported vehicles with licence plate holders that read "My other car is a Tardis", and children at Hallowe'en fancy dress parades dressed in homemade blue police boxes.
Caption: Matt Smith and Jenna Louise Coleman, the Doctor's new assistant, filming in London. They also made the cover of America's Entertainment Weekly
Disclaimer: These citations are created on-the-fly using primitive parsing techniques. You should double-check all citations. Send feedback to whovian@cuttingsarchive.org
- APA 6th ed.: Blakely, Kaya Burgess, Rhys (2013-03-30). How the Time Lord won new companions in the US. The Times p. 9.
- MLA 7th ed.: Blakely, Kaya Burgess, Rhys. "How the Time Lord won new companions in the US." The Times [add city] 2013-03-30, 9. Print.
- Chicago 15th ed.: Blakely, Kaya Burgess, Rhys. "How the Time Lord won new companions in the US." The Times, edition, sec., 2013-03-30
- Turabian: Blakely, Kaya Burgess, Rhys. "How the Time Lord won new companions in the US." The Times, 2013-03-30, section, 9 edition.
- Wikipedia (this article): <ref>{{cite news| title=How the Time Lord won new companions in the US | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/How_the_Time_Lord_won_new_companions_in_the_US | work=The Times | pages=9 | date=2013-03-30 | via=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=15 May 2025 }}</ref>
- Wikipedia (this page): <ref>{{cite web | title=How the Time Lord won new companions in the US | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/How_the_Time_Lord_won_new_companions_in_the_US | work=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=15 May 2025}}</ref>
