Embodiments of the present invention provide a physical downlink control channel transmission method and apparatus. The transmission method includes: obtaining, by UE, a parameter set for transmitting a first physical downlink control channel, where the first physical downlink control channel is used for sending same downlink control information DCI in at least R subframes; determining, by the UE according to the parameter set, N candidate locations for transmitting the first physical downlink control channel by a base station, where the candidate location includes the R subframes; monitoring, by the UE at the N candidate locations, whether the base station sends the first physical downlink control channel; and receiving, by the UE at a first candidate location, the first physical downlink control channel sent by the base station, where the N candidate locations include the first candidate location.