Almost all in the first week

A total of 1.5million viewers have watched episode one of Ricky Gervais’s animated comedy Alley Cats in its first 28 days.

Of those, 1.1million came in the first week, trailing off to just 400,000 thereafter – accordion to Barb data from overnights.tv, reported on trade website Broadcast.

The series also saw a drop-off over its six episodes, as is typical, with 1million watching the final instalment. 

Alley Cats launched on August 7 and featured many of Gervais’s usual collaborators including Tom Basden, Andrew Brooke, David Earl, Kerry Godliman, Jo Hartley and Diane Morgan.

But it was roundly slammed by critics (including Chortle).

The animation outperformed new US animated comedy Mating Season,  which drew 327,000 UK viewers after 28 days in May.

Published: 4 Sep 2026