According to the Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB), overnight ratings suggested that 10.7 million viewers were tuned into BBC One from 9.00pm to 9.15pm (a 45.1% audience share), the slot in which the Doctor Who mini-episode was broadcast in most regions. This represented the highest ratings that Children in Need had received in eight years.
In a UK television première of the illusion, magician Scott Penrose performed The Impossible Sawing, a new "box-less" version of the sawing a woman in half illusion, on host Fearne Cotton.
Regional Opt-Outs
After a 5 year hiatus between 2001 and 2004, Children in Need 2005 saw the return of the regional outside broadcasts. The main programme would return to these events at various points throughout the night and give people a more local idea of where the money was going.