8 Million Watch BNP on Question Time

Early overnight ratings figures show that an incredible peak of 8.3 million people watched Question Time last night. The highly controversial edition of the political debate show saw BNP leader, widely dubbed a Nazi by the press, Nick Griffin appear on the panel. Griffin was attacked by fellow members of the panel and the audience for his racist, homophobic and anti-Islamic views.

Allowing BNP leader Nick Griffin to appear on Question Time may have caused the BBC much negative publicity and criticism from the press and various politicians but in terms of ratings it was a winning move by the corporation – which some more cynical readers may suspect was the purpose behind the move. Last night’s controversial edition of the topical political debate series was seen by a peak audience of 8.3 million viewers – a truly incredible figure for the series. 

The edition itself averaged 7.8 million viewers across the hour with the peak of 8.3 million at one point. The usual average audience for Question Time is nearer 3 million viewers. The shows previous best performance was earlier this year at the height of the expenses scandal when 3.7 million viewers tuned in. 

Nick Griffin was attacked by the fellow members of the panel and the audience which was mostly hostile bar a few BNP supporters amongst it. The panel routinely took Griffin to task for his homophobic, racist and anti-Islamic viewers with Griffin repeatedly being challenged by the panel with quotes he had previously made on various subjects. His performance has widely been criticised by the British media today claiming the BNP leader was truly beaten by the audience and his fellow panel members.