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David Tennant's Des breaks records with viewing figures

From Digital Spy

ITV's highly-anticipated drama Des, starring David Tennant as serial killer Dennis Nilsen, finally aired last week, and proved to be worth the wait, as it has broken records for the broadcaster.

The channel has released viewing figures for the first episode, and has revealed that 10.9 million people have watched it over the first week. That figure includes people watching it live, on repeats, and on catch-up via ITV Hub.

That has beaten out the previous record holder for the channel, Quiz, which aired earlier this year and starred Michael Sheen.

Photo credit: ITV
Photo credit: ITV

Des also dethroned Quiz as ITV Hub's biggest drama, with 1.7 million views versus 1.4 million.

The drama also helped documentary The Real Des: The Dennis Nilsen Story, ranked fifth place on the catch-up service's top ten. Some people, however, thought that the drama itself was the documentary. By 'some people', we mean one of the Gogglebox-ers.

As well as being a ratings success, Des was also highly praised by viewers, with some claiming it was the "best drama on TV", with a lot of acclaim for Tennant, Jason Watkins, and Daniel Mays.

Photo credit: ITV
Photo credit: ITV

It was also critically acclaimed, with Digital Spy's own review saying it avoided the trappings of many other true crime dramas, with its decision to focus on the investigation rather than the murders providing a fresh take on the genre.

Despite all that, Des did receive a few complaints to broadcaster regulator Ofcom over the disturbing scenes featured in it.


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