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Ann Droid's impressive ratings revealed for the BBC – beating Amandaland season 2 launch

It's the comedy that everyone's talking about.

Sue and Ann Droid stand next to each other on a street. Sue looks shocked by something, while Ann is looking vacantly into the middle distance

BBC / Boffola Pictures / Gary Moyes

Published: Saturday, 1 August 2026 at 11:32 am

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Since its launch just a few weeks ago, Ann Droid has continued to go down a storm with viewers – and now, the official ratings confirm that it's a gem in the BBC's comedy crown.

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As reported by Broadcast, the overnight ratings for the Diane Morgan and Sue Johnston series are incredibly positive, with the first episode pulling in 4 million viewers in its first seven days.

That figure includes the 1.9 million people that tuned in live when the episode aired on BBC One, with the rest made up of people watching across iPlayer and on other devices.

Whilst the ratings are already impressive at first glance, they become even more so when compared with some of the BBC's other recent comedy launches.

A smiling blonde woman with wavy hair stands in a decorated hallway while another person applies makeup to her with a large brush. The woman raises her hands playfully as if reacting to the touch-up. She is wearing a light-colored long-sleeve top layered under a textured pastel vest and dark trousers. Behind her are rose-gold metallic streamers, balloons, and soft lighting, suggesting a party or celebration setting. A staircase leads upward in the background.

Lucy Punch stars in Amandaland BBC / Merman

Ann Droid had a better ratings launch than Dawn French's Can You Keep a Secret? which premiered at the start of the year to an audience of 3.5 million.

The series has, of course, since been confirmed for season 2, with the audience number over the show's first 28 days reaching 5.3 million – more than half of that coming from BBC iPlayer.

But in news that may surprise many, Ann Droid's launch has actually surpassed that of Morgan's former Motherland co-star Lucy Punch in Amandaland season 2, which debuted at the beginning of May this year to an audience of 3.4 million.

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Ann Droid isn't far behind Amandaland's first season either, which premiered in February 2025 to an audience of 4.4 million in its first seven days.

The series is set in 2029 and sees Morgan play Linda, an outdated model of robot who is bought by Paul Ready's Michael for his mum Sue, played by Johnston. It's a world where AI eldercare robots are the norm, but has been lauded for its more poignant and thought-provoking moments alongside the comedy.

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Morgan created the series with Sarah Kendall, who is perhaps best known for appearing in - and winning - Taskmaster season 11.

Previously speaking of her inspiration for the show, Morgan said: "I read a story in the paper which said that apparently they were rolling them [robots] out in Japan and I told Pippa [Brown] my producer and we started laughing about it.

"It was also inspired by the time in lockdown when I decided to send my mum a tablet so she could do online shopping - she reacted like I'd sent her a nail bomb."

Ann Droid is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.

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Check out more of our Comedy coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.

Authors

Black and white cut-out portrait headshot of Morgan Cormack, smiling against a lime green background

Morgan CormackDrama Writer

Morgan Cormack is a Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering everything drama-related on TV and streaming. She previously worked at Stylist as an Entertainment Writer. Alongside her past work in content marketing and as a freelancer, she possesses a BA in English Literature.

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