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- guardian.co.uk, Monday April 17 2006 06.43 BST
More than eight million people watched last night's first episode of a new series of Doctor Who, it emerged yesterday.
A BBC spokeswoman said the programme peaked at 8.3 million viewers. It was a "brilliant start" for the new Doctor Who, David Tennant, she said, adding: "We are really thrilled."
The first episode, in which the Doctor and Rose (Billie Piper) visit an earth colony and find a "plague farm" run by evil cat people, was competing for viewers with a blockbuster film on ITV1, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
No figures were immediately available for that.
