X Factor slips to new low with viewers

The X Factor pulled in its lowest audience of the series on Saturday, ratings showed.

It came as Doctor Who returned to BBC1 with a surprise appearance for the Doctor’s new assistant Oswin, played by Jenna-Louise Coleman, which saw a slight audience increase on last year’s launch episode.

The third edition of ITV1’s X Factor pulled in an average of 8.6 million viewers on Saturday night – including viewers watching on the +1 channel – while 8.7 million had watched the first two shows of 2012.

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At this stage of the competition in 2011, the programme was consistently pulling in more than 10 million viewers.

The first episode of Doctor Who – which saw a return for the Daleks – drew an average of 6.2 million, which was 200,000 up on the last series when it began in August 2011.