I really want to believe you but the experience of The Village, The Muskateers... the BBC One drama path is strewn with all these shows that started with a bang and ended with a pathetic whimper.

The Boat Race: 4.52m (25.2%)
BBC News: 6.32m (32.5%)
Regional News: 6.79m (34.5%)
Countryfile: 7.15m (32.6%)
Antiques Roadshow: 5.75m (24.7%)
The Crimson Field: 6.10m (26.1%)

It's a good rating when you consider The Crimson Field had tougher competition than The Musketeers. Think it will hold up better too.

The Boat Race clearly propelled BBC1 to a huge early evening. Look at those numbers for the news and Countryfile! Antiques Roadshow was a million higher than last week too.

I dread to think how low ITV was.

Not amazing but good start never the less. Am betting this will hold up much better then Musketeers as it's opening episode wasn't great. Where as CrimsionFields opening episode was great.

Wow some cracking figures there Countryfile over 7mil

Ah ok am with you now. Yah that would be a good idea.

One thing to bear in mind with awards commitees like the TV BAFTA's, regardless of the overall quality they still hand out awards.

I recall the last British Comedy Awards, really terrible programming on display but they still got an award or two.


History will judge the worth of todays crop of TV programming, not some industry commitee.

Thanks DMN.

I think you're right Score. The Boat Race must have given a leg up to the news! Wow!

The BAFTA for Best soap is based on a storyline only and not the whole year.

Carols Cancer plot Will likely be it's nom this year and BAFTA said a few years back that Lindsey Coulson is a cut Above the rest when she won it for Billies death episodes.

Trying to find reasons why The Musketeers failed? After the 1st episode of The Musketeers I seem to remember you were loving it, how come you now think it was a bad episode now?

One thing in the early evening on BBC1 and millions get stuck on BBC1. How come this only seems to happen on BBC1? Do adverts turn people away that quickly, I can guarantee ITV News would be low 4m even with a 7m+ lead in.

I remeber saying I enjoyed it but when you compare it to the rest of the episodes it really wasn't as good which is why I thought it was the reason people where put off.

Aw maybe people enjoy BBC more.

I Suspect Catchphrase and Off their Rockers were unfortunately below 4million and Endeavour below 5million.

I was stunned EastEnders won last year but with BAFTA awards the jury vote on one submitted episode. That goes for performance categories too. The clips from programmes shown on the night come from the submitted episode of a series.

I think its called a schedule!!
Seriously though the Sunday night BBC1 schedule however they came by it works and if they have a hit or even a medium drama hit at 9pm its even more solid.
And I do think adverts are a turn off because they have become too prevalent - its why we now see massive timeshifts especially for the longer dramas - I personally would not dream of watching an ITV drama live. And of course it doesnt just happen on the BBC - if ITV have XF/Downtown or Corrie/popular drama the audience stays with them. ITV news though just seem to have lost the audience.

Well that's thanks to ITV destroying their stellar news reputation with ITV news at when.

Why assume it's just because people got "stuck on BBC1"? It's not like the ratings post Boat Race were that out of the ordinary for BBC1 on a Sunday night. And I do think people are capable of turning over or off if they want...

BBC News is just inevitably watched more than the ITV equivalent and it simply appears to be that Countryfile has settled in to be among the most watched programme on Sunday evenings - it's no. 1 when there isn't anything major elsewhere and still sustains a high position in the top 10 when there is. Add to that a controversial Princess Anne interview yesterday and the ratings weren't a surprise

Great start for The Crimson Field, I can see it holding around that instead of seeing the usual drops, around about where the first series of Last Tango rated. (That did drop for its second episode but that was due to IAC, it bounced right back the week after.) I hope so anyway as I really enjoyed it, and it seems to have gotten a better reception that Musketeers and The Village, we've just seen The Widower buck the trend of falling dramas, no reason why TCF can't either.

UK TV Ratings ‏@TVRatingsUK 3m
New BBC1 drama #TheCrimsonField last night launched with a strong 6.10m/26.1%. It beat ITV's Endeavour, which averaged 5.50m/23.5%.

Endeavor held up well too, there's room on Sunday nights for both channels' dramas to do well if they're both good enough.

UKTVRatings New BBC1 drama #TheCrimsonField last night launched with a strong 6.10m/26.1%. It beat ITV's Endeavour, which averaged 5.50m/23.5%.

People watching good dramas on either side shock.

That's not to bad for Endeavour neither.

Anyone got the The Voice BBC Three repeat figure please?

Sorry I was referring to another post which indicated overnights were delayed, I can be a complete tool at times myself.

Endeavour actually rose.

The Crimson Field attracts over 6 million on BBC One

The Crimson Field won the battle of the dramas on Sunday night for BBC One, according to overnight data.

Oona Chaplin's period drama attracted 6.1 million (26.1%) viewers at 9pm for its debut episode. Earlier, Countryfile topped the ratings overall with 7.1m (32.6%) at 7pm.

Antiques Roadshow appealed to 5.7m (24.7%) at 8pm, while Match of the Day 2 scored 2.4m (17.5%) at 10.35pm.

On ITV, Endeavour rose by around 700,000 viewers from last week to 5.1m (21.9%) at 8pm (370k/1.8% on +1). Earlier, Catchphrase puzzled 3.7m (18.2%) at 6.45pm (293k/1.3%) and Off Their Rockers returned with 2.4m (17.5%) at 10.35pm (302k/1.3%).

BBC Two's Border Country gathered 989k (4.3%) at 8pm, followed by the finale of Louis Theroux's LA Stories with 1.6m (6.8%) at 9pm. Coverage from the F1 Grand Prix in Bahrain attracted 2.4m (15.3%) at 10pm.

Channel 4's Secret History documentary appealed to 1.4m (5.9%) at 8pm (265k/1.1%), followed by Liam Neeson film The Grey with 1.2m (6.2%) at 9pm (240k/1.9%).

On Channel 5, John Travolta movie Ladder 49 thrilled 598k (2.6%) at 8pm.