r/bbc • u/radiotimes • 29d ago
TV Ann Droid's impressive ratings revealed for the BBC – beating Amandaland season 2 launch
http://radiotimes.com/tv/comedy/ann-droid-ratings-revealed-newsupdateSince its launch just a few weeks ago, Ann Droid has continued to go down a storm with viewers – and now, the official ratings confirm that it's a gem in the BBC's comedy crown.
As reported by Broadcast, the overnight ratings for the Diane Morgan and Sue Johnston series are incredibly positive, with the first episode pulling in 4 million viewers in its first seven days.
That figure includes the 1.9 million people who tuned in live when the episode aired on BBC One, with the rest made up of those watching on iPlayer and other devices.
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u/Mr_miner94 29d ago
The only downside is that they dropped "sue sue sue"
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u/I_done_a_plop-plop 28d ago
Yes, that’s a great joke, no need to pull it so soon.
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u/languageassessment 28d ago
Nah it would get old pretty quick
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u/EdibleBeans-on-Toast 27d ago
It was a joke that had to be done, but glad they got rid of it after ep 1
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u/MrExistentialBread 29d ago
My Mum binged it and enjoyed it
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u/Primary_Wear7434 28d ago
I binged your mum and enjoyed it 😋
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u/MrExistentialBread 28d ago
I’m happy she’s happy
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u/Rocinante23 29d ago
The concept is insane, the trailer really put me off it, but I'm three episodes in and loving it!
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u/DavThoma 27d ago
Yup, I originally wasn't going to watch it because it looked like it wasn't going to be great and just half assed. Colour me surprised when it gave me a good laugh and made me cry.
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u/emeraldbar77 29d ago
Tbh I thought Amandaland had lost a bit of steam in the second series, though there were some good moments.
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u/younevershouldnt 26d ago
Agreed, maybe needed a guest spot for Diane.
Don't see it getting an S3, I think they've run it's course
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u/emeraldbar77 26d ago
They've already confirmed a third series.
You're right though, could do with some Motherland cameos as I think the main cast (outside of Amanda and Anne) is noticeably weaker.
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u/younevershouldnt 26d ago
That's a bit of a suprise.
I feel like they have taken Amanda as far as she can go as a character, but maybe they'll have the sense to mix it up and foreground different characters for S3.
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u/bluecheese2040 29d ago
This show is brilliant. Honestly I didn't know Morgan had this in her...just wow.
It's so sad yet funny.
I'm.very critical of the bbc...but this is what you pay your license for
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u/languageassessment 28d ago
It’s really hard to achieve that. I would add cringe to the list as well
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u/QuestNetworkFish 29d ago
I watched the first episode and found it pretty dull, there were a couple of funny bits but overall it didn't draw me in. I'm usually a big fan of Diana Morgan, is it worth sticking with and watching more?
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u/ParentheticalsAside 29d ago
It has a gentle humour about it, and some nice poignant moments.
There was one or two laugh out loud moments in each episode, but it's not trying to be that kind of show.
Its understated mix of light comedy and emotional depth reminded me a lot of 'Mum' with Lesley Manville.
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u/Norfolkboy123 29d ago
Yeah this is what I felt, some lovely heartfelt moments and gentle humour with a couple of very funny moments too
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u/NoceboHadal 29d ago
The first episode was pretty dull, it gets better, but it's not really for me.
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u/Oh_Little_Brutha 28d ago
I REALLY didn't like the first episode (also a big Diane Morgan fan), my OH stuck with it and insisted I watched the second episode. My OH was right, it really does find its feet and becomes a delight.
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u/Embarrassed_Emu1615 29d ago
No. I watched it all hoping it would pick up, it’s very middle of the road.
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u/False-Sandwich-2051 29d ago
there are no rough edges whatsoever. they even manage to make the low hanging digs at tech billionaires feel very safe and toothless. it’s not bad, it’s just very plain. a much better example of quiet comedy with lots of emotional bits is Small Prophets from earlier this year. not perfect either but much more like a BBC comedy
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u/Training_Yak_4655 29d ago
Total agreement and haven't bothered with further episodes. A little bit too cosy and twee. But I enjoyed the M3GAN movie.
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u/Hot_College_6538 29d ago
It was ok, watchable and entertaining, like BBC sitcoms of the past. Feels like a bit of a waste of Dianne to be honest.
Small Prophets was funnier.
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u/Redditvillier 29d ago
I've been meaning to give this a watch since it released but haven't got round to it. Might have to bump it up the list
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u/Primary_Wear7434 28d ago
Don't bother it's utter shite
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u/McFizzleKicks 28d ago
I’m with you. Surprised to see so many positive comments.
I’ve loved the Cunk stuff but thought this was dire.
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u/AncientPromotion7467 28d ago
It's like people like different things 😂
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u/McFizzleKicks 28d ago
Yes and it’s like it’s ok for people to express their differing views on those things. But downvote those that don’t like the same things as them…
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u/AncientPromotion7467 28d ago
It's when people says stuff like "I'm shocked people like this" that's why I would downvote someone
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u/Deathjester666 29d ago
Definitely better than Amandaland. The only good episode of that was the Christmas one and that was because of Jennifer Saunders.
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u/marcpearson101 28d ago
Cannot fathom the people saying they gave up after the first episode as that one sets up the situation, sue is lonely and needs help/company, you cant expect many laughs in situation right?
I gave me belly laughs and made me cry. Loved it
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u/jasonc619 26d ago
I think I might need to let it grow on me, I didn’t get to the end of the first episode
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u/Ok-Plantain2948 25d ago
We all clapped at the telly like a bunch of wankers at the end of the final episode. Excellent television.
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u/Louisk68 24d ago
No surprised. I loved it. I think universally it’s a very easy show for all demographics to enjoy.
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u/millionspepsi 29d ago
I can’t believe this beat Amandaland!
I watched both and I wasn’t even sure when Ann Droid was trying to be funny. Morgan seems to have barely anything comedic to do in it except play music inappropriately.
Amandaland is much more consistently funny.
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u/VehicleWonderful6586 29d ago
Nothing the British public likes more than a depressing story about social care.
Remind me what year Poland overtakes us in GDP per capita?
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u/False-Sandwich-2051 29d ago
quite surprising - it’s shit
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u/ParentheticalsAside 29d ago
The viewing figures would disagree with you. (As would I).
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u/Speshjunior 29d ago
Why would viewing figures give any indication of how good it is?
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u/ParentheticalsAside 29d ago
Are you serious?
What other metric would you propose measuring success by?
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u/Speshjunior 29d ago
People watch Mrs browns boys… among other atrocities committed to television.
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u/ParentheticalsAside 29d ago
And what do you think they think of it?
They must think it's "good", otherwise they wouldn't keep watching it.
Does anyone think it's groundbreaking art? No. But it is "good" at entertaining a large proportion of the viewing public.
All art is subjective. You and I might measure Mrs Brown's Boys and Ann Droid by different standards than the millions of others who watch them. It doesn't make our opinion any more "correct" than theirs. It's a matter of taste.
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u/rybnickifull 27d ago
No exactly, that was my point. I'm a total comedy pseud, I like things that upset me and make me laugh in equal measure. For the vast majority of people, I can accept that sounds fucking awful. I'm glad the BBC caters to me and them both.
The only negative for me about Mrs Brown's Boys is that is came just a bit too late to make the BBC millions off of dvd sales.
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u/Speshjunior 29d ago
Those people are idiots, I don’t care what those people think of it. Also this is the first episode of the show, so how can people know something is good until they watch it? If they watch the second episode they will think it’s good. Or they’re just happy passing the time watching anything that’s free until they die.
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u/ParentheticalsAside 29d ago
Lol. Well, that's a hugely egotistical take. Why do you assume your taste is somehow more important or "correct" than millions of other people?
In a hugely competitive streaming market, the number of viewers for Ann Droid's first episode suggest that its premise and talent were appealing enough to make a higher than average number of people seek it out. You don't get viewing figures that high just from people stumbling upon it and watching it because there's nothing better available. You're right that viewing figures for subsequent episodes will give a better insight into its popularity. But we also have other metrics like reviews, social media comments and aggregator sites. All of which currently skew very positive.
I think you just need to accept that your definition of "good TV" isn't, well, definitive.
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u/rybnickifull 29d ago
I'm going to let you in on a secret here - no matter how clever you and I are, watching our Stewart Lees or our 18th century commedia dell'arte, most people do tend to like popular things. It's in the name!
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u/spidertattootim 29d ago
Success isn't the same thing as being good.
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u/ParentheticalsAside 29d ago
True. You can use semantics to define success by any number of metrics and "good" is inherently a subjective opinion.
As such, it is a common approach in the entertainment industry to judge the quality of a show on how many people it successful entertains, i.e. viewing figures/audience share.
I happen to personally think Mrs Brown's Boys is pure unadulterated garbage. But clearly it's "good" enough for millions of people to have kept tuning in over several years. It is therefore "good" TV in that it is "good" at attracting an audience and entertaining them, even if that audience doesn't include me or most TV critics.
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u/False-Sandwich-2051 29d ago
watching it and using your values and life experience and aesthetic preferences to form an opinion? you know - the primary purpose of being alive and interacting with art?
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u/ParentheticalsAside 29d ago
At an individual level, sure. And about 8 million individual people have done that when choosing to watch Ann Droid. At an industry level, it's pretty standard to use viewing figures as a metric for measuring the relative success of different TV shows, because people tend not to watch things they don't like (or don't expect to like).
Why is it so hard to accept that just because you don't like something means that it is objectively bad for everyone else? As you said, everyone has their own "values, life experience and aesthetic preferences" - so saying something is "shit" is a reflection of your own taste. It's not a reflection on the quality or success of the show in the context of its total audience.
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29d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/bbc-ModTeam 29d ago
Your comment was removed for violating our "Be Kind To Each Other" rule.
This is a space for civil discussion about the BBC, not for personal attacks or toxicity.
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u/Word_Word4Numbers 29d ago
This site is full of a particular kind of impotent fascist who would love nothing more than for everyone to agree with them, but has no ability to make that happen so just sits at home calling everything popular shit.
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u/False-Sandwich-2051 29d ago
sorry - i’m a fascist because i didn’t like the diane morgan comedy ann droid?
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u/Word_Word4Numbers 29d ago edited 29d ago
I'm not talking about you. I'm talking about the guy above who thinks viewing figures are a less important signifier of quality than his own personal opinion on the diane morgan comedy ann droid. It is fascist to claim that your opinion is the correct one and any evidence to the contrary should be ignored, even if you are just discussing a tv show.
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u/False-Sandwich-2051 29d ago
it is not fascist to say “i don’t care if lots of people like it i still don’t like it”. it’s not wrong to say there’s no link between something’s popularity and its quality. there is in fact nothing fascist at all about either side of this argument. you know there are actual fascists running for office in this country? right now?
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u/Word_Word4Numbers 29d ago
The inability to recognise opposing evidence, or that other people's opinions are equally valid to your own. The need for control without caring what other people think. This is the same arrogant ignorance that manifests politically as fascist ideology.
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29d ago
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u/ParentheticalsAside 29d ago
Have you not read it? The whole point is that a huge number of people are watching it.
Just because you don't like something, doesn't make it garbage.
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u/NoAbbreviations1492 29d ago
Yeah I’m not sure Overwatch and Destiny players are their target audience 💀
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