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Michael Sheen’s drama The Way has become the BBC’s biggest flop after scoring the lowest viewing figures ever recorded for a primetime drama finale, according to reports.
The drama is about a brutal government crackdown in Wales with people becoming refugees and being persecuted by English fascists.
It is directed by Sheen, a Welsh nationalist, and follows the Driscoll family as they attempt to escape the United Kingdom.
But only 697,000 viewers watched the final episode and it was surpassed in ratings by the launch of Celebrity Big Brother on ITV, which had an audience of 2.3 million. The Telegraph reported.
Michael Sheen directed the BBC drama about the brutal government crackdown on the Welsh.
The drama came to light just weeks after Tata Steel said nearly 2,000 jobs were at risk.
Additionally, The Way launched with just 1.7 million viewers, which is below average for a primetime show.
But the corporation claimed that audience behavior had changed and many people would have watched the series on iPlayer instead of at 9pm.
A spokesperson for the broadcaster said: ‘The Way has been available to watch in full on BBC iPlayer for over a fortnight.
“Overnight ratings no longer provide a complete picture of all those who have watched it in an on-demand world.”
Other dramas available as on-demand box sets have overtaken The Way, such as ITV’s Mr Bates vs the Post Office, which had a launch audience of 3.9 million in January and added millions more through catch-up.
Daily Mail television critic Christopher Stevens was also unimpressed with The Way, giving it zero stars out of five.
He wrote: “Actor-director Michael Sheen’s saliva-spattered revolutionary rant, The Way (BBC1), began with incoherent fury and became increasingly unhinged.
“These three hours spent denouncing England’s oppression of the Welsh ultimately ended in a mess of disjointed scenes.
“Sheen’s influence as a respected actor is the only reason this nonsense was filmed.”
The Way, which describes a crackdown on protests over job cuts at the Port Talbot steelworks, comes just weeks after Tata Steel said almost 2,000 jobs were at risk, sparking demonstrations in the city.
Sheen, 55, who lives near Port Talbot, admitted the program could be seen as political and he feared BBC bosses would withdraw it.
A scene from BBC’s The Way, directed by Michael Sheen. The drama has caused controversy.
The actor said he had “great sympathy” for steelworkers but insisted it was a coincidence that the show he devised in 2016 premiered after the job cuts were announced.
“We wanted to get this out quickly,” he said. The times. “The concern was that if the election was too close, the BBC would get nervous.”
But the program attracted criticism, with one senior Conservative MP saying: “This is typical politicization of BBC drama production.”
‘The riots and disorder are all the fault of the Conservative Party. Sheen should just run for office.
Lee Anderson, Conservative MP for Ashfield, said: “This is not a surprise as the BBC is the official opposition these days.”