British TV ratings: Poldark season 3 still on the rise; The Loch falls
The latest episode of the Aidan Turner – Eleanor Tomlinson series from last night ended up securing in total 4.8 million viewers, an impressive total and (per Telly Mix) a nice rise of around 200,000 from the previous week. Ever since the second episode, the show has improved its performance, which bodes very well looking forward to everything coming down the road. The bulk of the third season is still to come, and consistency should show the BBC further that there is a long life still for this Cornwall-set drama. There are many more books to adapt, and our dream is to see all of them make it into television form — though there could understandably be a break somewhere in there given how much Ross Poldark ages in the books.
Of course, there is a Poldark season 4 renewal already on the books, but we’d love to see a fifth season announced at some point between now and when the fourth season premieres. Isn’t that sort of reassurance great for taking some of the stress away?
As great as Poldark and its ratings were, they were not at the top of the charts in Britain. As an American, it remains fascinating to see which shows people really gravitate towards across the Atlantic, and one of them is a show in Antiques Roadshow (5.8 million), which is far more of a drop in the bucket stateside. The majority of U.S. viewers have likely never heard of anything done with the show here, even though there is a different version hosted by Mark L. Wahlberg that has aired on PBS.
Meanwhile, Countryfile was in second place on the night with 5.3 million viewers, another remarkable total that shows more that there is a real interest in some of life’s simple pleasures on British television; given that this is an era where there is so much chaos in the headlines, we absolutely do understand some of this sentiment and precisely where it comes from.
Where does The Loch stand in all of this?
The ITV series has slowly seen its ratings fall since the series premiere, and unfortunately, this past episode was no exception. Only 3.2 million viewers watched the latest episode, and these continued declines do not bode as well for the show’s future. It probably doesn’t help that it is airing alongside so many other programs that have copious amounts of popularity.
Then, there’s Love Island
Even if you are in America or some other place in the world, you may have seen this series trend on social media. It’s almost at this point to Britain what The Bachelor / The Bachelorette is to America, a fun guilty-pleasure show that people love to tweet about. The latest episode improved to 2.1 million viewers, impressive given that it aired on ITV2 as opposed to the flagship.
If you missed it and love Poldark…
Be sure to head over here! That is where you can take a look at our most-recent episode review, plus a preview for what lies ahead! (Photo: BBC.)