Poldark Series 2 on BBC and ITV’s Victoria set for head-to-head Sunday night ratings battle

This year’s two biggest period dramas will be up against each other in the schedules
Coming soon: Poldark will return, but he'll have stiff competition from ITV's Victoria
BBC/Robert Viglasky
Ben Travis15 August 2016

Downton Abbey is finished for good, meaning that the title for Britain’s next favourite period drama is up for grabs – and two shows are going head-to-head for it.

Series 2 of the BBC’s Poldark is set to go up against ITV’s new show Victoria on Sunday nights, likely to spark off a ratings battle.

Aidan Turner’s brooding Cornish hero proved a huge hit in his debut last year, with the first series of Poldark pulling in 9.51 million viewers in its debut episode.

The new series comes hotly anticipated, especially following rumours that Turner could be lined up as the next James Bond. It’s due to start on September 4 on BBC One.

Poldark - in pictures

1/11

However, Victoria is also expected to arrive in the Sunday night, 9pm slot – and is starting a week earlier on August 28.

The series is a big-budget look at the young years of Queen Victoria’s reign, depicting her marriage to Prince Albert and close relationship with the Prime Minister Lord Melbourne.

ITV's Victoria Premiere

1/10

The show stars Doctor Who’s Jenna Coleman in the lead role, and should offer a more lavish and grandiose Downton-esque drama compared to the earthy grit of Poldark.

According to The Daily Express, Damien Timmer – head of Mammoth Screen, the company behind both shows – is hoping to avoid a ratings war.

Whichever comes out on top in the overnight ratings, it’s a good time to be a period drama fan.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in