It went head-to-head with royal TV drama Victoria on Sunday night with a 9pm slot.
Advertisement
The return of the BBC1 series, which has turned ab-tastic Aidan Turner into something of a national heart-throb, failed to come anywhere near the 6.9 million viewers who tuned into the launch of the first series.
Poldark (BBC1) and Victoria (ITV) will both be airing tonight at 9.00pm.
Both shows are made by the same producer, Mammoth Screen.
But Victoria hit a higher average of 5.2 million and peak of 5.9 million including those watching on ITV+1.
However the picture could change as the BBC’s overnight figures do not take into account those watching on catch-up while the ITV programme’s figures do.
Although the second new series was set in the colder Cornish Winter, there was widespread panic among Turner’s legion of female fans that he would be obliged to keep his shirt on – for warmth if nothing else.
The finale of the first season saw Poldark arrested for murder as he and wife Demelza faced the devastation of losing their child.
Sunday night ratings declined gently across the first series previous year, which concluded with 5.9m, a path which appears to have continued with the drama’s return.
The series, starring Jenna Coleman as a young Queen Victoria, was the most-watched drama on Sunday night with a 23.3% audience share.
While viewers were delighted with the return of lead character Ross, played by Aidan Turner, not to mention Demelza actress Eleanor Tomlinson – BBC viewers were left numb moments before the credits rolled.
The drama also stars Rufus Sewell as prime minister Lord Melbourne and will later feature Tom Hughes as Prince Albert.
Advertisement
It ruled the night with a 33.1% share of the audience.
