A PEAK of 7.3 million viewers tuned in to watch Peter Capaldi's arrival as the new Dr Who.

An average of 6.8 million viewers watched the whole feature-length episode introducing the new Time Lord on Saturday night.

The show attracted 33% of all viewers who were watching TV during that slot.

The BBC said this made it the most watched series opener of Doctor Who since 2010 when Matt Smith took on the role.