Peter Capaldi's First Doctor Who Gets Best Premiere Ratings In Years

Yesterday's first episode of Peter Capaldi's Doctor Who may have had fairly lukewarm reception from many fans, but there were plenty of them watching.

The episode, titled "Deep Breath," scored 6.79 million viewers in the U.K. last night according to overnight numbers obtained by Deadline. That's the best performance since 2010.

That's not all that great compared to the 9.9 million that Thor: The Dark World villain Christopher Eccleston, whose 2005 debut as The Doctor scored 9.9 million viewers. Since 2010, though, the premiere episodes have been somewhat depressed in the ratings, with 2012's being the lowest-rated premiere of the modern era with 6.4 million viewers.

U.S. overnight numbers are not yet available but Deadline expects BBC America to release them later today.

2015 may feature the first appearance of a new companion, as Jenna-Louise Coleman is rumored to be leaving after this year's Christmas special.