JK Rowling thriller steals Victoria’s crown
THE last time she was on our screens, she reigned supreme.
But that was before she was up against the massive pulling power of author JK Rowling.
So it was hardly surprising that the opening episode of the second series of Victoria on ITV was trounced by the adaptation of one of Rowling’s Cormoran Strike crime novels.
The Harry Potter author helped the BBC win a hotly-anticipated battle following the fraught tussle between Victoria and Poldark last summer.
BBC1 thriller Strike: The Cuckoo’s Calling pulled in 5.46million viewers, compared to the 3.6million watching the ITV period drama.
The figures only cover those watching the programmes live.
The BBC series is adapted from Miss Rowling’s Cormoran Strike novels, which were written under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith.
The three-part series, which is executive-produced by Miss Rowling, stars Tom Burke as private eye Strike and Holliday Grainger as his assistant Robin Ellacott.
Sunday’s opener saw a murder in the first five minutes and a stalker wearing a wolf’s head. Victoria picked up in 1840, when the Queen, played by Jenna Coleman, was struggling to reassert her authority after having her first child.
The BBC will be keen to ensure Strike retains its popularity, as the 2015 adaptation of Miss Rowling’s novel The Casual Vacancy lost almost 2million viewers over its three parts.