Lukewarm audience figures, but a cautious critical welcome

Jamie Demetriou’s new Channel 4 comedy Stath Lets Flats struggled in the ratings last night.

The opening episode attracted 460,000 viewers according to overnight ratings, down on the 770,000 average for the 10pm slot.

And on BBC Two at the same time, the second episode of Mortimer and Whitehouse: Gone Fishing lost more than 40 per cent of its audience from the opening episodes a week ago, down from 1.2million to 710,000.

Both shows were beaten by the 784,000  who tuned into ITV2 gameshow Celebability – which benefitted from following  Love Island in the schedules. Both programmes feature comedian Iain Stirling.

Stath Lets Flats got a cautious welcome from critics, with three-star reviews almost across the board.

The Guardian praised the ‘lovely performances’ but was less impressed by the ‘heavy reliance on physical comedy’.

The Times said: ‘It’s early days and the laughs may not sustain a whole series, but it looks promising.’

And the Telegraph praised both Demetriou and his sister Natasia, who co-stars, but said: ‘Stath Let Flats felt a bit unadventurous, despite good work from a strong supporting cast.’

But The Independent was the most positive of all, saying: ‘This opener roared along at speed with energy and absurdity, much like London’s property market.’

Read Chortle’s verdict here.

Published: 28 Jun 2018