BBC viewers have blasted a new historic drama as ‘a load of drivel’ and some have even abandoned it after just one episode. 

Dope Girls first hit screens on Saturday and was originally lined up to be the next Peaky Blinders.

The criminal underworld drama dives into London at the end of the First World War and follows a group of women as they tackle the country’s new era and use ‘Soho’s expanding illicit underground clubland scene as their playground,’ according to the synopsis.

It explores the introduction of modern nightlife, ‘guided and gilded by hard-fought female endeavour’.

Starring Julianne Nicholson as the main character, Kate Galloway, other cast members include Eliza Scanlen as Violet Davies and Umi Myers as Billie Cᴀssidy.

However, the new drama has received mixed reviews online, with some viewers saying they found the plot ‘confusing’.

L-R Umi Myers, Eliza Scanlent, Julianne Nicholson and Evie Galloway pictured in character in the new BBC series Dope Girls

The criminal underworld drama dives into London at the end of the First World War and follows a group of women as they tackle the country’s new era and use ‘Soho’s expanding illicit underground clubland scene as their playground,’ according to the synopsis

However, the new drama has received mixed reviews online, with some viewers saying they found the plot ‘confusing’

One wrote on X: ‘#DOPEGIRLS thoroughly confusing.’;

‘#DOPEGIRLS how on Earth did this make it on to primetime BBC1 on a Saturday night.’;

‘Managed 32 minutes of this new drama then called it a day. The new female Peaky Blinders it’s not. Poor lighting, weird camera angles, messy. I tried, but not for me. #DopeGirls.’;

‘What a lot of abysmal rubbish. Switched over to Netflix. #DOPEGIRLS.’;

‘Not at all sure what I just watched. Was I meant to make sense of or understand what was going on? #dopegirls.’;

‘#DOPEGIRLS – sat through the whole lot but I’ve no idea why. In fact I’d be hard pressed to tell you what this gloomy, impossibly sH๏τ, totally confusing tripe is about. And I couldn’t be bothered anyway.’;

‘Safe to say I won’t be watching any more of that season #DOPEGIRLS.’;

‘What a load of drivel. #DOPEGIRLS.’

However, some viewers did seem to enjoy the news series, and one took to social media and penned: ‘#DOPEGIRLS started a bit all over the place, but it’s well worth a watch, I’ve binged them all this weekend and it was enjoyable – not the best of BBC dramas, but worth watching.’;

‘Absolutely fabulous. Loved everything about it. The strong performances, the filming, the atmosphere. You might guess, I loved it. Looking forward to the next episodes. #dopegirls.’

It comes after TV fans said they were obsessed with another crime drama they described as ‘phenomenal’. 

The new drama has received mixed reviews online with some praising the storyline while others wrote on X how they were ‘confused’

Prime Video series, Caronte, follows the story of a wrongly convicted police officer Samuel Caronte who becomes a lawyer with a mission to help innocent people get justice and avoid his fate.

The Spanish drama consists of 13 episodes and is set to leave the streaming platform at the end of February.

It stars Roberto Álamo as Samuel Caronte, Miriam Giovanelli as Marta Pelayo and Álex Villazán as Guille, among others.

Caronte first aired in 2020 and many fans have left positive reviews of the show online, with one describing it as ‘spectacular’.

Dope Girls airs on BBC One and is available to stream on BBC iPlayer.