The first episode of the underwater documentary series narrated by David Attenborough was watched by an average of 10.3 million viewers when it aired live on Sunday.
The results show of Strictly Come Dancing which aired just before was watched by 9.6 million people, although Blue Planet II couldn’t quite beat the ratings for Strictly’s Saturday Halloween special, which was watched by 10.6 million live viewers.
X Factor‘s ratings were blown out of the water by both shows, as the talent competition only managed 4.3 million views for its first two live shows of the season. Simon Cowell was absent from both after being hospitalised for falling down the stairs, but he has recently announced that he is ‘on the mend’.
These figures are set to rise once viewing numbers from catch-up services such as BBC Iplayer and ITV+1 are taken into account.
Blue Planet II, a sequel to the 2004 documentary film Blue Planet, airs every Sunday at 8:00 on BBC One.
Watch the trailer for the series below:
