The first episode of the new sitcom starring John Cleese and Alison Steadman has been a ratings success for the BBC.

The series launched on BBC One on Sunday night with a peak audience of 7.2m. The average was 6.2m viewers with a 29.1% audience share making this the most successful comedy launch on BBC One since Still Open All Hours series 1 launched in 2014.   

Shane Allen, Controller Comedy Commissioning said ‘This is a superb launch for a show that is awash with comedy acting royalty and cements the BBC’s unique ongoing commitment to delivering mainstream popular comedy on BBC One’

Reviews were mixed, however. theartsdesk.co.uk wasn't impressed: "This is a weary exhumation of sitcom’s more incontinent old tropes." The Telegraph was more positive: "Cleese is made for this role. Throughout this opener, he perfectly conveyed the widower’s irritation without ever allowing it to tip over into malice."

When Beyond The Joke tweeted that maybe if you weren't laughing it was because you were under fifty a lot of over-fifties took offence. Enid Shelmerdine tweeted: "I'm pushing 70 and I'd be slashing my wrists if I was in a household like that. Dire."

A lot of viewers would have been drawn to the series to see John Cleese in his first starring role in a BBC sitcom since Fawlty Towers. The big question is will they return to watch it again next Sunday?

Read a review here.