Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Doctor Who 50th anniversary episode to be shown on BBC Entertainment in South Africa on 23 November at the same time as 75 countries.


South African TV viewers will be able to see the special 50th anniversary episode of Doctor Who on 23 November on BBC Entertainment (DStv 120) as the same time as it's being show in the United Kingdom, with viewers in 75 countries across six continent who will be able to watch the episode at the same time.

BBC Worldwide says Africa, Europe and Latin America have all signed up for the global simulcast together with Australia, the United States and Canada.

It means that South African viewers will be able to see Matt Smith and Jenna Coleman in the once-off Doctor Who special entitled "The Day of the Doctor" at exactly the same time as millions of viewers across the globe tune in on 23 November.

The former Time Lord David Tennant as well as Billie Piper, and John Hurt will appear in the 50th anniversary episode.

"Few TV shows can still lay claim to being appointment viewing but Doctor Who takes this to another level," says Tim Davie, the CEO of BBC Worldwide which issued a statement late on Tuesday night.

"We wanted to create a truly international event for Doctor Who fans in as many countries as possible and the simultaneous broadcast across so many countries will make for a fitting birthday tribute to our Time Lord."

"The Doctor has always been a time traveller - now he's travelling time zones," says Steve Moffat, the showrunner for Doctor Who and the executive producer of the 50th anniversay episode in the statement.

"On 23 November it won't be the bad guys conquering the Earth - everywhere it will be The Day of the Doctor."