Blue Planet II ...a ratings splash!
SIR David Attenborough’s Blue Planet II pulled in 10.6million viewers, overtaking Strictly Come Dancing as the BBC’s most popular show.
The first episode of the series on Sunday proved another huge hit for the broadcaster, with fans hailing the return of his ‘velvety’ voice.
But some scenes, including one of a giant trevally fish plucking a bird out of the sky, were described as ‘traumatising’ by some viewers.
The huge fish – with a gaping-wide mouth – leapt out of the ocean to grab a bird and eat it in a single bite.
It is thought to be the first time the extraordinary spectacle has ever been caught on camera.
Blue Planet, as serialised in the Daily Mail’s Weekend magazine, is one of the BBC’s biggest hits of recent years. The
second series has been released 16 years after the original.
Another scene in which walruses were filmed struggling to find an ice floe to rest on also distressed viewers, with one commenting: ‘Blue Planet has made me more emotionally invested in a walrus than I thought was possible.’ The show had a peak audience of 10.6million, and an average of 10.3million.
Broadcast directly before the BBC 1 documentary, the Halloween-themed results instalment of Strictly attracted an average audience of 9.6million and a peak of 10.4million viewers, the BBC said.
Meanwhile, ITV’s The X Factor – which was on at the same time as both BBC shows – suffered, with just 4.3million watching the results show.