South Korea Honours Doctor Who

The Seoul International Drama Awards 2009 honoured the BBC's hit series Doctor Who with an award as The Most Popular Foreign Drama of the Year.

Phil Collinson, producer of Doctor Who Series 1-4, attended the awards ceremony which took place at the Olympic Hall in Seoul. He was delighted to accept the award on behalf of everyone involved with Doctor Who and thanked the actors, directors, writers and crew as well as all of the fans in South Korea who voted for the series. Joining Phil on the red carpet was Louise Page, head costume designer for Doctor Who Series 2-4.

"It was a fantastic event attended by talent from all over the world as well the cream of South Korea’s acting world. How great it was to find all of these fans on the other side of the world who love Doctor Who as much as British audiences," said Phil Collinson.

Such is its popularity in South Korea that Doctor Who has been shown across four channels; South Korea's premier broadcaster KBS, Fox Channel, SK Broadband and BBC Entertainment. The series first broadcast on KBS in June 2005 and rapidly grew in popularity to become one of the top 3 rated UK programmes telecast in the country (July 2008 to June 2009).

BBC Worldwide has sold Doctor Who to over 55 broadcasters around the world which means the series appears in countries as far flung as Bolivia, Malaysia, Iran and New Zealand.