The Scandalous Lady W, starring Natalie Dormer in the title role, attracted 2.5 million viewers on Monday evening, making it the day’s most-watched show in its 9pm slot.
BBC2’s drama pulled in a 12.9% audience share and was well ahead of the channel’s average in the 9pm hour, which stands at 1.3 million viewers – or 6.4% of the audience.
The Scandalous Lady W follows the true story of Lady Seymour Worsley, whose husband Sir Richard Worsley sued her lover Captain George Bisset for £20,000 after the pair ran away together.
In the late 18th century, when the events took place, women were considered to be the property of their husbands and the affair, her husband claimed, constituted damage to something he owned in law.
The case, which was eventually heard in open court, scandalised Georgian Britain and resulted in the awarding of a shilling to Sir Richard.
In the BBC2’s 90-minute drama telling the story, Sir Richard is played by Shaun Evans and Bisset is portrayed by Aneurin Barnard. It beat its BBC1 and ITV 9pm rivals – a Sherlock repeat and Travel Guides, respectively – by about 200,00 viewers each. And it was more than a million viewers ahead of Channel 4’s 9pm offering, 24 Hours in Police Custody.
Dormer has spoken of the programme as giving her the opportunity to play the lead after often being cast in supporting roles. “God, was I ready,” she told the Daily Mirror.
She added: “I’ve carried a lead on stage, and Anne Boleyn was the closest I’ve come to playing a female lead on TV before. I knew I was ready. I just wanted someone to champion me.”
Monday’s most-watched programme was ITV’s Coronation Street, which attracted 7.2 million viewers, a 7.1% share, at 7.30pm. The programme with the biggest audience share was BBC Breakfast, which drew 39.4% of the audience for the 6am slot.
