AirLockAlpha.com

The "Doctor Who" spinoff series "Torchwood" had trouble holding on to its audience late in its first season run, but it still dominated the top 15 broadcasts of the year for British outlet BBC3 with nine episodes making the network's top 15, and holding the top five places on the list.

The premiere of "Torchwood" drew in more than 2.5 million viewers, according to the BBC, which aired back-to-back episodes on Oct. 22. When the show returned for the following week, on Oct. 29, it drew 1.77 million viewers, but fell to 1.39 million by the time Nov. 5 rolled around.

Nothing on BBC3's schedule did better, however, even beating out World Cup soccer. A June 22 telecast of the postgame show between Croatia and Australia.

"Torchwood" stayed above 1 million viewers for most of its episodes, however, with its Dec. 10 episode pulling in 1.1 million.

"Torchwood" already has been renewed for a second season, but will be among some higher-rated programs on BBC2. It is expected to return the later part of 2007, while "Doctor Who" will return to the main BBC channel in March.