‘Call the Midwife’ season 3 premiere draws enormous ratings in Britain

While “Call the Midwife” may not have drawn the sort of huge numbers internationally as “Downton Abbey,” there is starting to be almost no question at all that this show is really the apple of many British viewers’ eye.

The season 3 premiere on Sunday night ended up ultimately drawing a series-high 9.6 million viewers on BBC One, which is a pretty massive share of their TV market. While we understand that there are fewer options over in the United Kingdom, if the same percentage of people watched this in America that did in Britain, we’d be talking about a show that drew in the vicinity of 40 million viewers, if not many more. (That is something that only “NCIS,” the most-watched show in America, gets about 50% of.)

So what is causing this show in particular to be so darn successful? The main thing that we attribute it to is just that there is an era of time that people are very fascinated in, and this is also a show that appeals to everyone for more liberal to conservative viewers. Even though the subject matter is at times sensitive, it is never exactly offensive.

Another thing that this show likely has going for it is that through its entire run, it has never felt like it is on the zenith of pop culture. What makes that so significant at the end of the day is that it keeps the numbers overall steady, and has an audience that is somewhat independent of what is defined as “cool” or important for most of the country. That also keeps some potential viewers of the show from bailing on it at some point in the future.

Are you surprised by the success of “Call the Midwife” in Britain, and is there any one thing that you attribute it to? Be sure to share your thoughts below.