New sci-fi drama Humans has become Channel 4’s most successful drama launch since current records began, beating previous holder Indian Summers.


The series starring Gemma Chan was watched by an average of 3.44 million people on Sunday night, although the series finale of ITV’s Home Fires was the most watched show of the 9pm slot with 4.86 million viewers on average.

When +1 viewers are included for both dramas, Home Fires ended the night with just over 5 million compared to an average of 4 million viewers for Humans.

BBC1 fantasy drama Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by contrast was watched by an average of 1.8 million viewers (not including HD), while Channel 5 live reality launch Big Brother: Time Warp averaged 1.2 million viewers. BBC2 documentary The BBC at War scored an average of 1.1 million.

Humans is set in the near-future, where domestic robots or ‘Synths’ serve their owners’ every need. The show is a co-production with US network AMC (responsible for Mad Men and Breaking Bad), and is now the most-watched drama launch for Channel 4 since current figures began in 2002.

By comparison, period drama Indian Summers starring Julie Walters, which launched in February this year, was watched by an average of 2.9 million people, one million fewer than Humans.


Note: Channel 4 and ITV figures include viewers in HD