"DOCTOR WHO" PREMIERE SEES BIG JUMP IN LIVE PLUS 7 ON BBC AMERICA

New York - May 9, 2011 - The all new season of sci-fi hit Doctor Who, which premiered on Saturday, April 23, delivered BBC AMERICA its highest-rated, most-watched telecast ever in Live + Same Day with almost 1.3 million viewers. Announced today, the Live + 7 Day figure elevates the total to 1.8* million viewers. This is up 20% from last season's premiere in Live + 7 Day.

On the heels of the successful launch, NBC News' Today co-anchor Meredith Vieira's visit to the set of Doctor Who aired this morning on the program. Meredith spoke with stars Matt Smith and Alex Kingston and filmed a scene that will be featured later this season on Doctor Who. The full feature is available to watch at Today.com http://on.today.com/kLbk8R.

The new season continues this Saturday with one of the most anticipated stories of the year, "The Doctor's Wife," written by Neil Gaiman (Coraline, The Sandman). Last month, Gaiman showed fans a first look during the Doctor Who panel at WonderCon in San Francisco. The Doctor follows a Time Lord distress signal to a mysterious asteroid in a Bubble Universe - could there really be another living Time Lord out there? But the asteroid hides a secret which could threaten the existence not only of the TARDIS crew, but of the TARDIS itself (Trailer). "The Doctor's Wife" premieres Saturday, May 14, at 9/8c on BBC AMERICA.

Notes to editors

*1,790,000 million viewers

Source: Nielsen NH1, 4/23/11 Doctor Who S6 Ep. 1 9-10P Live+7 Day.

BBC AMERICA delivers U.S. audiences high-quality, innovative and intelligent programming. Established in 1998, it has been the launch pad for talent embraced by American mainstream pop culture, including Ricky Gervais, Gordon Ramsay, Graham Norton, and successful programming formats including ground-breaking non-scripted television like Top Gear and top-rated science-fiction like Doctor Who. Owned by BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the BBC, BBC AMERICA has attracted both critical acclaim and major awards including an Emmy, four Golden Globes and ten Peabody Awards. The channel attracts one of cable's most affluent and educated audiences and is available on digital cable and satellite TV in more than 68 million homes. It broadcasts in both standard and high-definition, with content available On Demand across all major digital platforms. Online, www.bbcamerica.com is the place to go to dig deeper into pop culture with a British twist.