The BBC were giddy with excitement when the much talked about EastEnders spin-off Redwater hit our screens.
But now they must be weeping into their tea after the show was branded a flop in its second week, with some nicknaming it instead Dead-In-The-Water.
In spite of the series opening to an impressive five million viewers, episode two, in which Kat finally discovered who her long lost son is, lost two million, pulling in just under three million viewers.
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Now TV insiders believe the programme will never recover from such a poor showing.
A source told The Sun Online: “Everyone thought Redwater would be a huge hit given the massive, loyal fan base EastEnders has.
“EastEnders draws in over six million viewers each episode so producers thought Redwater would follow suit and get at least three quarters of the audience.
“It got off to a brilliant start with five million so their hopes were up, but the ratings for episode two are bleak.
“The fact so many people have turned off after episode one is very telling.
“With such low figures so early into the series they will struggle to build it back up again.
“It’s a big blow for Jessie and Shane too.”
The bad news is, the third episode of the show set to air on Thursday looks likely to lose even more viewers as it’s been scheduled up against the fourth semi-final of Britain’s Got Talent, which is expected to draw in nearly ten million viewers.
But the dismal ratings shouldn’t have come as much of a surprise to anyone as viewers weren’t particularly impressed by what they had seen.
Many though it was jam-packed full of cliches and stereotypes.
One viewer called Miriam Wallace fumed: “Every Irish cliche has been thrown into this cringefest.”
While Ken McFadden said the show was “awful”, adding: “Every rotten patronising stereotype there is, it’s all here.”
Daithi O Laoghaire also raged: “Dear EastEnders fans outside of Ireland. Far And Away wasn’t us. Nor is Redwater. We’re more sophisticated than this twee nonsense.”
After this week’s episode, we have three more to contend with and insiders now wonder if the show will come back for the expected second series.
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Show producer Dominic Treadwell-Collins recently said: “The end of this series will feel like a midpoint – not an ending.
“We leave it on the mother of all cliffhangers at the end of episode six”.
That might be so, but will anyone be watching?