South African viewers will see episodes of Doctor Who from the end of March on BBC Entertainment (DStv 120) just one day after it is shown on the BBC in Britain.
When the second part of series seven of Doctor Who consisting of 8 episodes start in the United Kingdom on 30 March, South African viewers will start to see it from the very next day on BBC Entertainment on 31 March thanks to BBC Worldwide Channels which manages the BBC's portfolio of international TV channels.
Cutting the lag period of this long-running cult science fiction British drama to now make it extremely current and aligning British pop culture ever closer with that of South Africa where viewers will now be able to join in real-time on social media, is a huge improvement for BBC Entertainment.
"It's a very important part of our programming strategy to bring acquired content to air as close to its UK transmission as possible," says Jon Farrar, the vice president for programming for the Europe, Middle East and Africa region (EMEA) for BBC Worldwide Channels about finally closing the international broadcasting delay cap of the iconic Doctor Who.
"Doctor Who is a hugely popular programme and I'm delighted we are able to bring the Doctor's latest adventures to South African audiences just one day after the United Kingdom premiere transmission," says Jon Farrar.
Doctor Who will be celebrating its 50th anniversary in November this year which makes the alignment even more noteworthy and apt.
