Sheen’s steelworks drama buckles for BBC
Refugee-themed show set in Port Talbot receives lowest ever rating in the channel’s prime-time spot
‘Overnight ratings no longer provide a full picture of all of those who have watched in an ondemand world’
‘Whatever Michael Sheen says, the truth is we’re pouring millions in to save steel jobs in Britain’
A DRAMA starring Michael Sheen that imagined civil uprising in Wales over the future of the Port Talbot steelworks has become one of the BBC’S biggest flops.
Only 697,000 viewers tuned in for the third and final episode of The Way, which was hailed by the corporation as “ambitious, powerful and surprising”.
It is believed to be the lowest ever rating for a prime time BBC One drama finale.
In Monday’s 9pm slot, The Way was trounced by the launch of Celebrity Big
Brother on ITV, which drew an audience of 2.3 million.
It was also beaten by The Push: Murder on the Cliff on Channel 4 (992,000 viewers), Inside the Force: 24/7 on Channel 5 (939,000) and a repeat of Inside
Our Autistic Minds on BBC Two (768,000), according to overnight figures from Broadcast.
The BBC pointed out that audience behaviour has changed and many people will have watched the series on-demand on iplayer, rather than in the 9pm slot.
A spokesman for the broadcaster said: “The Way has been available to view in full on BBC iplayer for more than a fortnight. Overnight ratings no longer provide a full picture of all of those who have watched in an on-demand world.”
However, The Way launched with only 1.7 million viewers, below the average for the slot. Other dramas available as on-demand box sets have fared far better: ITV’S Mr Bates vs the Post Office was a ratings hit with a launch audience of 3.9 million in January and added millions more via catch-up.
The Way is a mix of thriller, Welsh mythology and documentary-style imagery, written by James Graham and co-created by Adam Curtis, the cult documentary film-maker.
Lindsay Salt, the BBC’S director of drama, told an industry gathering last month that the broadcaster should “take the risks others won’t” in its programming-making and deliver dramas that “push the boundaries and venture into the creative unknown”.
Sheen directed the drama and appears as the ghost of a steelworker. The drama imagines a brutal government crackdown in Wales – borders are closed and anyone wanting to cross into England must make a perilous journey as a refugee.
Although it had been in the making for several years, its broadcast coincided with the real-life news that Tata Steel is to push ahead with plans to close its blast furnaces in Port Talbot, with the expected loss of around 3,000 jobs.
The drama attracted criticism from politicians after Sheen, who lives close to the town, said in a promotional interview that “the people of Port Talbot have been let down”.
Kemi Badenoch, the Business Secretary, wrote a newspaper article in response headlined: “Whatever Michael Sheen says, the truth is we’re pouring millions in to save steel jobs in Britain.”
Sheen told The Times ahead of The
Way’s broadcast that the timing was an “unfortunate coincidence” but that the fictional story “has come bizarrely very close to the truth.
“In no way is this a blueprint to how people should react, but you don’t know, do you?”
In the drama, uncertainty over the future of the foreign-owned steelworks leads to a strike. Soon, civ il unrest has spread throughout Wales and the government puts the army on the streets.
Sheen said: “We wanted to get this out quickly. The concern was that if it was too close to an election, the BBC would get nervous.”
Only two BBC One dramas have recorded lower ratings in the 9pm slot: an episode of 2021 series The Pact in 2021 (663,000 viewers) and last year’s
The Following Events Are Based On a Pack of Lies (645,000). Audiences for both rose for the final episodes, while The Way’s audience fell.