Yahoo News EastEnders Kat and Alfie spin-off Redwater loses two million viewers after first episode
EastEnders’ Kat and Alfie Moon spin-off Redwater looks set to be a flop after a staggering two million viewers switched off after the first episode.
The first episode off the weekly hour-long drama got off to a promising start, with 4.9million fans tuning in, however, ratings fell to just 2.9million for the second episode, which aired on Thursday.
The BBC series follows EastEnders’ Kat [Jessie Wallace] and Alfie [Shane Richie] as they search the Irish countryside for Kat’s secret son, but the show has been blasted on Twitter for being “full of cliches”, with others arguing that the Walford characters are “hardly in” the show:
Why has @dominictc completely sidelined Kat & Alfie in #Redwater? They were meant to be the main stars but are hardly in it. Ridiculous.
— Joss (@getthejoss) May 29, 2017
@dominictc My family thought we would be watching Kat & Alfie but they're hardly in Redwater? Very disappointed!!
— Howard Marbles (@HowardMarbles) May 29, 2017
Every Irish cliche has been thrown into this cringefest.. #Redwater
— miriam wallace (@miriam_wallace) May 14, 2017
Not finding the priest character believable it's a tired cliché. Quiet religious guy goes crazy. #Redwater
— Ruth ???? (@r_uthe_) May 21, 2017
#redwater what a load of rubbish , worst load of Irish drama ever made. Who writes this stuff???
— SR (@roachesss) May 21, 2017
This will no doubt come as a blow for Redwater’s producer, and EastEnders’ former executive producer, Dominic Treadwell-Collins, who’d hoped that Redwater would be “something very special”.
Speaking to The Sun, a source dished: “Everyone thought Redwater would be a huge hit given the massive, loyal fanbase Eastenders has.
“EastEnders draws in over six million viewers each episode so producers thought Redwater would follow suit and get at least three quarters of the audience.
“It got off to a brilliant start with five million so their hopes were up, but the ratings for episode two are bleak.
“The fact so many people have turned off after episode one is very telling.
“With such low figures so early into the series they will struggle to build it back up again.
“It’s a big blow for Jessie and Shane too.”
To make things even worse, this week’s instalment of the six-part series will be up against Thursday’s live Britain’s Got Talent semi-final, which is expected to draw around ten million viewers.
Neither Dominic, Jessie or Shane have publicly acknowledged the huge drop in viewing figures and Yahoo Celeb have contacted their reps for comment.
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