‘Broadchurch’ Season 2 Debut on U.K.’s ITV Draws 7.6 Million Viewers

U.K. giant ITV drew strong ratings for the second-season debut of crime drama Broadchurch Monday night.

It attracted an average of 7.6 million viewers in the overnight ratings, according to ratings consultancy Attentional. The first episode of the show in 2013 had drawn 6.8 million average viewers in the overnight ratings.

ITV, also the home of Downton Abbey, said at the time that this was the highest weekday launch audience for a new drama in the U.K. since ITV’s Whitechapel in January 2009.

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ITV ordered a second season after the whodunnit drew big ratings throughout its run and became the topic of watercooler conversations across Britain in early 2013.

The final episode of the first season hit a peak audience of 9.3 million viewers and an average of 8.7 million, a mark the season two start didn’t reach. But it handily exceeded the average overnight audience of 7.1 million for the eight-episode first season.

Including delayed viewing, consolidated ratings showed an average audience of 9.2 million viewers for the first season. That made it ITV’s highest-rated new weekday drama since 2004.

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The show’s ensemble cast is led by former Doctor Who lead David Tennant and Olivia Colman. It is written and created by Chris Chibnall.

In the U.S., the show has aired on BBC America. Fox remade the drama as Gracepoint.

Email: Georg.Szalai@THR.com
Twitter: @georgszalai