This was supposed to be a big Easter hit for the BBC, and large numbers of viewers did tune in to watch. However, after the first night (it was a three part series) several million of them tuned out again, and there were over a thousand complaints about the show.
The main problem was the sound quality. It was very difficult to understand what some of the actors were saying - especially Shaun Harris who played the villain, Joss Merlyn - but it looks as if this was due to technical errors rather than an attempt to get the cast to sound 'natural' as was thought at first, though there have been a lot of complaints lately about actors who don't speak clearly.
Some viewers also found the story was retold rather clumsily, losing a lot of the vitality of the original novel by Daphne du Maurier. You can find out more about the series here.