A majority of Americans have heard of Doctor Who and nearly one in four have watched a full episode of it - more than most Emmy nominees this year

Earlier this week, Peter Capaldi was announced to be the new lead in the long running British science fiction series Doctor Who. While the show is a veritable institution in Britain, with 36% of population saying they followed the selection of new Doctor closely, it has been considered to be a cult series in America. New research from YouGov shows that this may no longer be the case.

A majority of Americans (58%) say they've heard of the show and 24% say that they've watched at least one full episode of it. For comparison, 24% is a higher amount of Americans than those who have watched any individual shows nominated for a Best Drama Emmy award this year.

Not everyone is just as likely to be a Doctor Who fan, however. The groups most likely to have watched the show are males, Democrats and those who live in the West.

As for the casting of Peter Capaldi as the Doctor, Americans were very supportive. Among those who had an opinion (comprising about 12% of the US population), 75% approved of the casting of the new Doctor and 25% disapproved. A similar poll done in the UK showed Britons were also supportive of Capaldi as the new Doctor. Among those with an opinion, 87% approved of the casting of Capaldi.

Doctor Who premiered in 1963 and originally ran from 1963 to 1989. The show was relaunched in 2005. In its 50 year history, eleven different actors have portrayed the titular Doctor. Capaldi - who will be the twelth Doctor - previously played Malcolm Tucker in BBC sitcom The Thick of It.

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Image courtesty of Getty.