Small Island Steps Up A Gear

A major dramatisation of Andrea Levy's bestselling novel has made a dent in the ratings for BBC1.
Small Island gave Jeremy Clarkson's Top Gear a good run for its money in the race to the top slot, drawing in 5m viewers to BBC1 between 9pm and 10.30pm. However it wasn't quite enough to overtake Top Gear to the finish line.
Starting slightly earlier at 8.30pm, Top Gear managed to keep its head start over the BBC1 drama, with 5.4m up to 9.30pm.
Top Gear had a noticeable increase in viewers on the hour, with figures jumping from 5.2m at 8.55pm, to 6m at 9pm.
However Small Island - set in London and Jamaica - didn't completely lose out, as the steady viewing figures throughout meant the final 45-minutes won out over other terrestrials.
Adapted from Andrea Levy's best-selling award-winning novel, Small Island is an epic love story about the determined pursuit of dreams in the face of seemingly insurmountable barriers.
Filmed on location in Northern Ireland and in the Caribbean, Small Island is set against the backdrop of the Second World War in a time when landlords put up signs that read 'No Irish, no coloureds, no dogs'.
Starring Naomie Harris (Pirates of the Caribbean), David Oyelowo (The Last King of Scotland), Ruth Wilson (Jane Eyre) and Benedict Cumberbatch, Small Island is a Ruby Television production in association with AL Films for BBC One, co-produced with WGBH and made with the assistance of Northern Ireland Screen.
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