THE BBC’s £16 million bonkbuster Troy: Fall of a City has been branded a massive waste of cash after pulling in an audience of just 1.6m viewers.

The Saturday night prime-time drama, which follows the steamy love affair between Paris and Helen during the Trojan War, has seen overnight ratings tumble from an average of 3.2million in episode one to just 1.6m in episode four.

Viewers of Troy: Fall of a City have branded the latest episode as 'boring beyond belief' and 'ridiculous' Credit: BBC

It comes despite producers hoping the eight-part series, which is also a co-production with streaming-giant Netflix, would rival Game of Thrones.

One TV insider said: “Everyone thought Troy would be a huge hit – especially given the amount of money that the BBC pumped into it.

“But ratings have been bleak and the fact so many people have turned off is very telling.

“It’s pretty embarrassing for everyone involved given BBC producers made the decision to place it in the primetime Saturday night slot at 9pm which is used to seeing ratings of well over five million.”

Episode four of Troy: Fall of a City lost out to ITV’s The Voice which drew 4.9million viewers Credit: Rex Features

The fourth instalment of the historical drama, which stars Bella Dayne, 28 and Louis Hunger, 25, lost out to ITV’s The Voice on Sunday night which contrastingly drew in a huge audience of 4.9million viewers.

Viewers branded the episode “boring beyond belief” and “ridiculous” despite featuring an inter-racial threesome between Achilles, Patroclus and Briseis.

One viewer blasted: “How can the BBC make such a story so boring, dull, plodding and did they trawl for the worst actors they could find?”

And another added: “The BBC has yet again succeeded in making interesting subject matter into dull, whispery c***.”

Producers were hoping the eight-part series would rival Game of Thrones Credit: BBC Press Handout

The disastrous ratings come after the BBC revealed plans to reinvent Saturday night TV by replacing family-friendly entertainment with big-budget dramas.

Tory MP Andrew Bridgen, 53, said: “The BBC does not have to worry about the commercial viability of its programming or the programmes it commissions because it knows it is funded by £4billion a year of taxpayer’s money through the mandatory license fee and does not have to operate in the real commercial world unfortunately.”

A BBC spokesman declined to comment.