ITV’s Victoria kept its lead over Poldark on BBC1 on Sunday evening, as both shows saw falls in audience.
Five million people tuned in to Victoria’s third episode to watch the early stages of courtship between the queen and her future husband Albert, down slightly on the 5.1 million who tuned in last week.
Poldark’s second instalment, which saw Aidan Turner’s character facing the noose, attracted an audience of 4.8 million, down from the 5 million who watched the opener.
Though Victoria appears to have lost some of its audience to Poldark since launching a three weeks ago with 5.7 million viewers, the decision to air it first appears to have paid off for ITV in the battle for the coveted Sunday evening slot.
Meanwhile, The X Factor saw its audience dip to an average of 7.4 million on Saturday, up on its launch audience of 6.8 million two weeks ago, its lowest-rated opener in a decade.
Despite the dip, the programme remained the most popular programme on both nights of the weekend, with 7.2 million viewers on Saturday.
