Spanish public broadcaster RTVE has moved the Italian drama series My Brilliant Friend to Saturday prime time on its main channel La 1 following unexpected audience figures on La 2.
The television series, which premiered on Sunday, will air on La 1 at 10:00 PM starting Saturday, August 29. The broadcast takes over the schedule slot usually reserved for the channel's weekly feature film.
Following the schedule change, the Sunday night slot vacated on La 2 will be filled by episodes of The Count of Monte Cristo.
Record viewers on La 2
The decision follows a historic ratings performance during the show's debut on RTVE's second channel. Across its first three episodes, the drama attracted nearly two million total unique viewers, reaching an exact figure of 1,983,000.
The series recorded an average audience of 488,000 viewers and a 6.2 percent screen share, making it the highest-rated fiction premiere on La 2 in 20 years.
The opening episode, titled The Dolls, registered 497,000 viewers and a 5.3 percent viewer share. Ratings climbed to 5.9 percent for the second episode, before reaching 8.5 percent during the third and final chapter of the evening.
During that final slot, the series outperformed its principal competitor, the sports discussion show El Chiringuito hosted by Josep Pedrerol on Cuatro. The rival broadcast drew an average share of 7.1 percent and 258,000 viewers.
The strong performance comes despite the series having previously been available on the streaming platform RTVE Play several years ago. The show had also aired on open television in Spain on the former Paramount Network prior to its closure.
Adapting Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan tetralogy
My Brilliant Friend is based on the bestselling novels by Italian author Elena Ferrante. The narrative focuses on the parallel lives of two female friends growing up in a working-class neighborhood of Naples beginning in the 1950s.
The television adaptation spans 32 episodes divided equally across four eight-episode seasons. The structure symmetrically mirrors the four volumes of Ferrante's literary saga, starting with the self-titled first book, followed by The Story of a New Name, Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay, and concluding with The Story of the Lost Child.
The plot opens in the present day as an elderly Elena Greco learns that her childhood friend Lila has vanished without a trace. The discovery prompts Elena to write the story of their shared life.
The storyline then returns to post-war Naples to trace a relationship spanning more than 60 years. Over the decades, the two women navigate contrasting life choices, with Elena pursuing academic success through university while Lila faces a constraining marriage.
Generational cast changes across four seasons
To portray the characters across six decades, the production utilized three distinct pairs of lead actresses. Child actors Elisa Del Genio and Ludovica Nasti played Elena and Lila during their early childhood years.
Actresses Margherita Mazzucco and Gaia Girace took over the roles to depict the characters through adolescence and young adulthood. In the final season, the roles passed to Alba Rohrwacher and Irene Maiorino.
The main cast is supported by secondary actors including Eduardo Scarpetta, Luca Gallone, and Antonio Milo, who portray the surrounding community within the Neapolitan neighborhood.
