JK Rowling's new BBC One detective series Strike has smashed ITV's Victoria in the Sunday night TV ratings.
The battle between the two has been one of the most anticipated Sunday night head-to-heads of the year, though it seems the 9pm slot for Cormoran Strike had the edge over Queen Victoria at 9.05pm.
Strike drew in an average of 5.5 million viewers – reaching a peak of 6.2 million – way ahead of Victoria, which took an average of 3.9 million and a peak of 4.2 million (via PA).
In total, the average audience share for the new series, which is based on the novels by JK Rowling under pseudonym Robert Galbraith, was 28.6%. Victoria's series two premiere was behind with only 21%.
Over here at Digital Spy, we conducted our own survey of what viewers would watch ahead of both shows' broadcasts, and interestingly more people favoured ITV's royal drama: 60% of respondents said they would watch Victoria, as compared to 40% for Strike.
The BBC One series stars The Musketeers' Tom Burke as the titular Cormoran Strike, a mentally-scarred private detective and former soldier who takes on dangerous cases from his West End office.
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The first case involves the supposed suicide of supermodel Lula Landry, though the case turns into a deeper conspiracy that puts his life at risk.
Meanwhile, Victoria's second series sees Jenna Coleman return to the role of the iconic Queen as she begins to grow her family.
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Sam is a freelance reporter and sub-editor who has a particular interest in movies, TV and music. After completing a journalism Masters at City University, London, Sam joined Digital Spy as a reporter, and has also freelanced for publications such as NME and Screen International. Sam, who also has a degree in Film, can wax lyrical about everything from Lord of the Rings to Love Is Blind, and is equally in his element crossing every 't' and dotting every 'i' as a sub-editor.
