British TV ratings: ‘Call the Midwife,’ ‘War and Peace’ finale bested by ‘Countryfile’

Did Great Britain witness a ratings revolution on Sunday night? We wouldn’t necessarily say that, but we can at least confirm that many shows ended up delivering some really great numbers over the course of Sunday … with rural showcase series “Countryfile” being the biggest success story of all.

A record 9.6 million people in Britain decided to check out the BBC series at its peak Sunday, which is incredibly surprising as an American writer who sees no U.S. equivalent to the show. In many ways, it is indicative of the difference in viewing trends; Britain tends to enjoy shows that celebrate more of its culture and geography, while in the States these are relegated more to cable channels while shows featuring people screaming at each other draw bigger ratings overall.

In terms of the rest of the lineup, “Call the Midwife” had almost eight million viewers Sunday, which was a further reminder of just how steady the show is at the moment in its fifth season. It hasn’t really fluctuated much since the start of the season.

Finally, the big finale of “War and Peace” had almost 5.7 million viewers. Maybe this number is the most disappointing of the group when you consider that it was probably the most expensive in terms of a single-episode budget, but we do think creatively it was a very satisfying end to the tale. Hopefully, this will lead to other adaptations in the future.

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