2.9m see Tracey Ullman's return | But sketch show divides critics

2.9m see Tracey Ullman's return

But sketch show divides critics

Tracey Ullman's return to British TV proved a ratings success last night.

The first episode of her sketch show attracted 2.9million viewers to BBC One in its relatively late slot of 10.45pm.

That represents almost 24 per cent of the total audience – and is more than 50 per cent up on the average for that slot, according to Barb data from overnights.tv.

The show divided both critics and viewers, with Twitter seemingly split down the middle between those who adored it, and hated it.

Among the professionals, the Guardian deemed it 'not brave or funny enough', with critic Sam Wollaston writing: 'Great performances by TU… but the ideas and the writing let it down.'

That was echoed in the Chortle review which praised Ullman as a 'brilliant comic actress' but said underpowered writing meant 'it does not fell like much of a classic'.

The Daily Telegraph's Michael Horgan praised the 'joyful energy' of the performance and added: 'It's standard practice to describe sketch shows as "hit and miss" but this really was.'

However the Daily Mail – which had previously published a critical take on her anti-Conservative outlook – praised the 'very funny' show for being 'fabulously clever', declaring: 'it's good to have her back'.

Last night also saw the start of Channel 4's new comedy, Crashing, about a group of 20 somethings living in a disused hospital.

It attracted 620,000 viewers, falling short of other comedies that have aired in that slot such as Not Safe and Catastrophe.

Published: 12 Jan 2016

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