The BBC’s Bodyguard has beaten ITV’s Vanity Fair in the first round of the Sunday-night drama ratings battle, attracting twice as many viewers as its rival.
Both shows went head-to-head in the 9pm slot but the BBC One series, starring Keeley Hawes, came out on top, attracting an average audience of 6.6 million – retaining the viewers who tuned in to the first two episodes of the drama, which focuses on the relationship between a home secretary and her close protection officer.
By comparison, ITV’s adaptation of William Makepeace Thackeray’s classic Victorian novel attracted 2.9 million viewers to its debut episode, boosted by 400,000 viewers watching on the timeshifted ITV+1 channel. The show stars Olivia Cooke in the role of Becky Sharp in the big-budget period drama, which is a co-production with Amazon and will be shown on the tech giant’s streaming service outside the UK.
The early figures do not include people watching on catch-up services, with millions of the viewers expected to tune in for both shows on the BBC’s iPlayer and the ITV Hub.
Both Vanity Fair and Bodyguard were made by ITV-owned production companies, meaning the commercial broadcaster is likely to be pleased regardless, especially since it is handling the international rights for both programmes.
Bodyguard, written by the Line of Duty scriptwriter Jed Mercurio, has already attracted attention for Hawes’ performances – although she has hit back at media suggestions she lost a stone in weight to play the role, tweeting #whowritesthisshite?
Um, no, I didn’t. #whowritesthisshite?#whatthefuckisanalkalinediet? https://t.co/u1QiBZvkLM
— Keeley Hawes (@Misskeeleyhawes) September 2, 2018
Vanity Fair will show its second episode on Monday night before going up against Bodyguard again in the Sunday night slot for the rest of its run.
