The Casual Vacancy concludes with 4.56m on Sunday night

[dutchman]

The Casual Vacancy concluded with 4.56m on BBC One, according to overnight figures for Sunday (March 1).



The adaptation of JK Rowling's novel lost around 200,000 viewers from last week for its final episode at 9pm, which attracted a 20.4% audience share. Earlier, Countryfile was watched by 7.04m (32.8%) at 7pm.

Call The Midwife remained top of the ratings with 8.64m (34%) at 8pm.

On BBC Two, The Fifteen Billion Pound Railway interested 1.26m (5.8%) at 7pm, before Top Gear entertained 5.39m (21.2%) at 8pm, and Let's Play Darts For Comic Relief averaged 2.88m (12.8%) at 9pm.

ITV's Off Their Rockers gathered 3.49m (15.7%) at 7.30pm (93k/0.4% on +1), while All Star Family Fortunes continued with 3.01m (11.9%) at 8pm (179k/0.8%). The latest episode of Mr Selfridge was watched by 3.52m (15.7%) at 9pm (252k/1.7%).

Channel 4's Indian Summers shed another 400,000 viewers, with 1.46m (6.5%) tuning in for its third instalment at 9pm (169k/1.6%).

Earlier in the evening, Four Rooms brought in 770k (3.6%) at 7pm (128k/0.5%), while The Auction House reached 940k (3.7%) at 8pm (197k/0.9%).

Channel 5's showing of Ghost Rider thrilled 598k (2.6%) at 7pm (56k/0.2%). However, Total Recall proved more popular with 1.09m (6.2%) at 9pm (169k/1.6%).

On ITVBe, The Only Way Is Essex aired to 545k (3.5%) at 10pm. BBC Three's I Survived a Zombie Apocalypse gathered 319k (2.1%) at 10pm.

[dutchman]

J K Rowling left 'crying her eyes out' at BBC's new Casual Vacancy ending



J K Rowling, the author, has said she was left "crying her eyes out" over the ending of The Casual Vacancy, despite fans complaining about BBC changes.

Rowling, who wrote the bestselling novel - her first for adults - has given her seal of approval to the series, as writer Sarah Phelps altered the bleak original ending to make it less "grim".

The BBC version, a three-part series, saw a different, slightly cheerier conclusion, with one innocent character spared a tragic and untimely death.

The final episode saw 4.6 million people tune in to BBC One; two million fewer than its launch.

Rowling, who watched the final episode live, has now publicly congratulated the writer and production team, thanking them for their adaptation.