JK Rowling's drama adaptation of novel "The Casual Vacancy" hits 6.6 million views on it's premier episode on BBC on Sunday night.
According to The Guardian, the launching of "Casual Vacancy" has been a huge success to BBC as it drew a 27.5% share of the 9pm slot. The said drama adaptation beats Channel 4's Indian Summers series and ITV's Mr Selfridge.
In an unofficial overnight figure, ITV's Mr Selfridge (a department store drama) got the second slot with 3.5 million viewers (14.5% audience share) while Indian Summers was in the third spot, with 2.9 million views (13.4% audience share). Indian Summers is a periodic drama that shows the lives of British expats within the last days of the Raj.
The other 9 pm shows including Dragon's Den of BBC2 drew 2.6 million viewers (an 11% share) on Sunday night while Channel 5's War of the Worlds got 900,000 views or a 5% audience share.
Meanwhile, The Casual Vacancy is a fictional three-part drama series was set in a West Country town called Pagford, where there are hidden secrets of an idyllic English town, Digital Spy reported.
The first episode introduces a warm parish councilor named Barry Fairbrother, played by actor Rory Kinnear. In the drama, Barry shows off his charm and kindness by helping drug addict/prostitute Terri Weedon). Barry also shows fairness and morality towards his colleagues and everyone around him. However, parish council leader Howard Mollison (Michael Gambon aka Dumbledore himself) and his wife, Shirley (Julia McKenzie) seeks to sell the town's community center, to hotel developers, Barry opposed their decision saying "That's social engineering! That's apartheid!" in an impassioned speech, before dropping dead, The Independent reported.
Barry's death left an opening on the council (the "casual vacancy" of the title) and, a ghost, that opens scurrilous gossip in the town. This leaves the viewers in awe for what will happen in the next episodes.
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