It's perhaps fitting that a spike in people watching Doctor Who on iPlayer this Christmas coincided with a spike in downloads of the BBC app for use on mobiles and tablets. When Who began almost half a century ago, the notion of having TV beamed into your hand or onto a screen that weighs less than a newspaper (remember those?) would have seemed every bit as alien as a two-hearted Time Lord battling paleolithic tribespeople.
Between the 24th and 25th of December, the BBC reports a combined average growth of over 50% in mobile and tablet iPlayer downloads, no doubt due to people pulling brand new expensive electrical goods out of their Christmas stockings. Simultaneously, iPlayer requests for this year's Doctor Who festive special in the period between the 22nd of December and the 1st of January were up some 300% on last year's (1.47 million iPlayer requests for The Snowmen versus 434,000 for 2011's The Doctor, The Widow And The Wardrobe). According to figures in The Guardian, that makes it the most-watched programme on iPlayer over the festive period, winning over Eastenders and Miranda.
The official arrival of Jenna-Louise Coleman's new companion then, was witnessed by (consolidated figure including iPlayer and delayed viewing numbers) 9.87 million viewers, over 2 million more than the overnight figures of 7.59 million, making it the fourth most watched programme broadcast on Christmas Day after Eastenders, Call The Midwife, and The Royale Family.
The Snowmen is available to watch on BBC iPlayer until Saturday the 5th of January at 7.59pm. Read our spoiler-filled review, here.
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