The BBC’s best thriller has never been stronger – it’s being let down
The BBC’s best thriller has never been stronger – it’s being let down
People frequently inquire about my current viewing habits, and for the past three weeks, I’ve been waxing poetic about The Capture. I’ve been quick to share my admiration for the series, assuming my friends would echo my enthusiasm. Yet, despite its merits, the show has remained a niche favorite rather than a mainstream hit.
When it debuted in 2019, The Capture was a slow-burn triumph, drawing over five million viewers for its first series. The show’s premise—a world where technology can convincingly alter digital evidence—was initially seen as a stretch. But it launched the career of Callum Turner, who was lauded as a potential successor to James Bond and earned a BAFTA nomination for his performance.
A Groundbreaking Concept
Its core idea, however, was ahead of its time. The series presented a chilling vision of a society where truth is no longer a certainty, thanks to manipulated CCTV footage. This premise, once deemed far-fetched, now feels eerily prescient in an era of deepfakes and viral misinformation.
With the same hype afforded to shows like Line of Duty or the recent return of The Night Manager, The Capture could have sparked genuine intellectual debate. Instead, it’s remained strangely under-discussed.
Seven years ago, the notion of doctored video becoming indistinguishable from reality was dismissed by some as absurd. Today, it’s a daily reality. That’s what makes The Capture extraordinary—it hasn’t just kept pace with the times; it’s predicted them.
Now in its third season, airing Sundays on BBC One, the series is at its peak. The opening episode saw Rachel Carey, played by Holliday Grainger, witness a shooting only to later realize the man she saw pull the trigger was her colleague. This twist left me disoriented, a feeling I haven’t experienced in a long time.
Yet, the show’s overnight viewership was a letdown. The first episode attracted just 1.84 million viewers, well below the 16 million average for Line of Duty’s 2021 series. While streaming figures may boost this, the lack of live audience engagement is glaring.
The Scheduling Dilemma
The BBC’s approach to releasing episodes has contributed to this quiet obscurity. New episodes of The Capture are quietly uploaded to iPlayer each Sunday morning, with the main broadcast following at 9pm. This strategy, reminiscent of a Netflix-style drop, deprives the show of the collective buzz that live viewing fosters.
Last night’s episode was a defining moment for long-time fans, yet it received scant online analysis. The same issue plagued the BBC’s recent release of Lord of the Flies, adapted by Jack Thorne. Despite being a critical success, its ratings plummeted by nearly a million after a staggered launch.
More than ever, The Capture deserves to be a cultural conversation starter. It should dominate breakfast TV discussions, inspire parliamentary debates, and sweep through awards season. But instead, it’s slipping under the radar, a casualty of shrinking viewership and a lack of promotional momentum.
