Saturday night’s episode of Doctor Who has received a Guinness World Record for the world’s largest ever simulcast of a TV drama.
The 50th anniversary show set a new world record after being broadcast in 94 countries across six continents.
In addition to the TV broadcast, the episode was screened in more than 1,500 cinemas worldwide, including in the UK, US, Canada, Latin America, Germany, Russia and Scandinavia.
More than half a million tickets were sold for the theatrical screenings at which fans watched the episode in spectacular 3D..embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; padding-top: 30px; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; height: auto; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; }
First broadcast on BBC One on November 23, 1963, Doctor Who is already in the Guinness Book of World Records as the most successful sci-fi series.
The award was presented by Craig Glenday, editor-in-chief of Guinness World Records, to show executive producer Steven Moffat at the Doctor Who Celebration at London’s ExCeL.
Mr Moffat said: “For years the Doctor has been stopping everyone else from conquering the world. Now, just to show off, he’s gone and done it himself!”
Tim Davie, from BBC Worldwide, said: “We knew we were attempting something unprecedented in broadcast history, not only because Doctor Who is a drama, unlike a live feed event such as a World Cup football match or a royal wedding, but because we had to deliver the episode in advance to the four corners of the world so that it could be dubbed and subtitled into 15 languages.
“If there was any doubt that Doctor Who is one of the world’s biggest TV shows, this award should put that argument to rest and how fitting for it to receive such an accolade in its 50th year.”
The Doctor Who episode had an average audience of 10.2 million, which was among the biggest overnight ratings since the programme was rebooted by the BBC in 2005.