3.2m tune in for début of ITV’s baby cop doc Rookies
Monday night saw ITV’s brand new documentary series, Rookies, début to a robust audience which saw the youngling copper show snatch the 9pm time slot from its rivals.
Filmed over the space of a year, Rookies was a refreshingly unsensationalised look at the challenges faced by a varied selection of new recruits as they take their first steps on the mean streets of Lincolnshire as enforcers of the law.
Faced with critical hurdles like violent drunks, out of control nerves and over protective parents, the anxious group of newbies highlighted to viewers the tough task faced by the police in their everyday jobs and was produced with a surprisingly touching and level-headed tone.
An audience of 3.2 million viewers watched as the novices crossed over the line to become confident law-keepers, netting a 16% share.
Things were a little more troubling on BBC One as Panorama heralded the end of the civilisation as we know it and the crippling challenges faced by the National Health Service with NHS: The Perfect Storm at 9pm. Spoiler alert: uh oh.
2.2 million viewers tuned in to get that sinking feeling in their tummy as the financial debt couldn’t be ignored, with reporting from the front line of the battle to save the health service netting an 11% share.
Straight up afterwards, BBC One decided to change the tone completely with yet another repeat trip to the overfamiliar tomfoolery of Mrs Brown’s Boys at 9:30pm.
At long last, and after many repeat viewings, its seems the discerning viewing public has finally grown tired of the critic-proof show, with the 7672nd airing of the second episode from series two netting a noticeably unastronomical 2.8 million viewers and a 14% share.
At the same time, BBC Two warned us about the danger of a long and vast fall from grace as some disturbed and bedraggled Willy Wonka/Liberace hybrid crawled all the way to China in order to bag himself some of that sweet emerging market Yuan.
Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen – Cracking China (9pm) saw the garish domestic joosher open up about his business troubles at home and invited cameras along to watch as he desperately pandered to the new market in a simple attempt to multiply his wealth.
1.3 million viewers tuned in to see the professional chancer hoodwink a whole new target audience, resulting in a 7% share.
Perhaps the ornamentation expert should have been watching Channel 4 instead, as the broadcaster was simultaneously attempting to provide a public service and whip up some more controversy while it was at it.
The middle instalment of the three-part How to Get a Council House (9pm) highlighted the lengths some people had to go to secure comfortable lodgings, with last night’s episode looking at the difficulty in housing those with serious illnesses.
An audience of 1.6 million viewers chose to spend their Monday night soaking up the depression, resulting in an 8% share.
All that, though, was probably nothing compared to the moral squalor of the Big Brother (9pm) house over on Channel 5. An audience of 1.1 million viewers watched as the group continued to shout, fight, shag and drink their way to success, netting a 6% share in the process.
Over on BBC Three was part sneer-fest part possible cautionary tale Teenage Millionaire: The Year I Won the Lottery (9pm), which followed a year in the life of a 17 year old winner.
In all fairness though, she only won £1 million, so it was more about trips to Benidorm than the procuring of Manhattan town houses. 541,000 viewers tuned in to see Jane adjust to her new life, resulting in a 3% share.
Earlier at 7pm, rural gritty crime soap Emmerdale attracted 5.6 million (a 31% share) fans of teatime violence, while BBC One’s EastEnders bettered that with 6.5 million viewers and a 31% share.
But it was a double helping of Mancunian mourning that secured Monday’s top spots as one Deirdre Anne Hunt Langton Rachid Barlow was laid to rest.
An audience of 7.4 million viewers (a 37% share) watched as the cast paid their tributes to one of Coronation Street‘s most iconic characters, with the eventful wake in the Rovers at 8:30pm securing 7.1 million viewers and a 33% share.
Overnight data is available each morning in mediatel.co.uk’s TV Database, with all BARB registered subscribers able to view reports for terrestrial networks and key multi-channel stations. Overnight data supplied by TRP are based on 15 minute slot averages. This may differ from tape checked figures, which are based on a programme’s actual start and end time.
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