Demons Ratings Review

ITV’s supernatural series Demons has limped to an end after six episodes and now the wait begins to find out whether it’ll join other ITV flops on the axe-pile or whether ITV will give it a second chance. In the meantime we take a look back at the ratings for the series and track its strong debut to weak exit.

ITV had high hopes for Demons but then it has high hopes for a lot of its drama’s and very few actually deliver on those hopes – Britannia High for example was a massive flop for the channel. Hopes that Britannia High would beat Strictly Come Dancing or spawn lots of merchandise for ITV quickly disappeared once the ratings came in – they were poor. However, Britannia High was written off by most before it even made it to the screens, it was decried as ITV’s attempt to cash in on the High School Musical generation only on a smaller budget and a completely un-engaging cast.

While Demons was rather typically branded a British “Buffy” it did have a lot going in its favour. For a start it was from the team behind BBC One’s successful Merlin, in which Richard Wilson also starred, which proved very popular in its Saturday night slot. Then again Merlin was the retelling of a classic story and although some criticised the changes made to the “myth” it was still recognisable enough for audiences. Merlin also had a strong cast which was mostly well used while Demons had a mostly strong cast which was poorly used. However, Demons bears more resemblance to Hex, another supernatural drama series by the same team, than with Merlin. Sky One’s Hex saw a teenage girl find out that she was in fact the last in the line of Witches and was being stalked by a Fallen Angel, Azazeal. In Demons a teenage boy finds out he is the last of the Van Helsing’s, Demon hunters. However, Hex was far more entertaining and engaging than its Demon counterparts and had a strong cast which was used well. Interestingly Laura Pyper and Katrine De Candole had roles in both Hex and Demons.

So why did Demons go from such a strong premier to such a weak exit? Was it Glenister’s American accent? Holiday Grainger’s annoying character? Christian Cooke walking around half naked too much? The criminal underuse of Zoe Tapper? The crappy theme tune and dodgy opening titles? Or was it because it was rather lame? Or all of the above? We don’t know, maybe you could email in and tell us why you think it flopped so badly. Email us at editor@atvnewsnetwork.co.uk

In the meantime here are the ratings from start to finish:

Episode One: They Bite – 6.27 million viewers

Episode Two: The Whole Enchilada – 5.58 million viewers

Episode Three: Saving Grace – 4.81 million viewers

Episode Four: Suckers – 4.22 million viewers

Episode Five: Smitten – 4.4 million viewers

Episode Six: Nothing Like Nebraska – 3.4 million viewers