New premium drama channel BBC First got off to a great start with overnight figures* for launch day, Sunday 3 August, showing:
The omens weren't great in the lead-up to the premiere of Banished on BBC First amid the controversy over absence of Indigenous characters in the drama set in penal colony NSW.
New premium drama channel BBC First has announced epic 10-part drama series Indian Summers starring Julie Walters (Harry Potter, Mamma Mia), as its latest acquisition.
Helena Bonham Carter, Daniel Radcliffe, David Tennant, Emma Thompson, Ricky Gervais, Steve Coogan and Jennifer Saunders are among the stars whose shows will screen on BBC First, the premium drama and comedy channel which launches on Foxtel in August.
While the overnight ratings for BBC First's shows are quite small, the consolidated national numbers indicate Foxtel’s newest channel is reaching fairly sizable audiences.
BBC Worldwide's first premium drama channel isn't pulling vast numbers on Foxtel, at least measured by the average audiences in prime-time.
A seven-part series set during the turbulent period of the establishment of the penal colony in Sydney in 1788 may seem a stretch for Liverpool-born and based writer Jimmy McGovern.
New premium drama channel BBC First will launch on Foxtel at 9.30am on Sunday 3rd August.