TV Overnights: 8.4m tune in for arrival of Corrie’s latest bad boy
Last night’s first episode of Coronation Street (ITV1, 7:30pm) attracted Monday’s largest audience, pulling in a 39% audience share. There was plenty of high drama for a Monday as Carla’s estranged brother set foot on the cobbles and turned out to be the bloke from the recent Carlsberg ad (the one where they try to make it look all slick and classy).
This being Weatherfield the arrival was hardly low-key and within minutes there was an altercation in the street’s commercial hub, the knicker factory.
An impressive 8.4 million viewers tuned in to see the awkward reunion as new bad boy Rob celebrated his release from prison by acting like a moron. Here’s hoping the characters at least manage to fit in some quiet time over their fictional weekends.
Got the Olympic fever yet? Too bad – you’re facing weeks of relentless coverage anyway. Like the trickle of water from the creaking dam Faster, Higher, Stronger (BBC Two, 7pm) was a hint of things to come (and no, last week’s bout of horror game show Going for Gold doesn’t count).
The factual show, focusing on the sportsmanship and hard graft that has made the Olympic Games what they are today, looked on the history of the 100m race in the first of four episodes. An audience of 925,000 (a 4% share) viewers tuned in for the hour long documentary.
Over on BBC One, the flogging of an expired mare continued (figuratively speaking) as EastEnders (BBC One, 8pm) continued to deal with Kat’s passionate affair with a mysterious man afraid of daylight. After losing her phone, Walford’s sultry vixen panicked that Alfie would discover her dalliance with the phantom menace and episode grabbed a 33% share.
Recently all the intense coverage of the tennis had seen a serious knock-on effect for the London soap, with a loss in audience. After a week of being messed around like a cheap east-end barmaid, the pulling power of EastEnders returned last night with 7.5 million viewers tuning in for the fun and frolics.
The second trip of the night to Weatherfield saw a drop in viewers, down 700,000 with a total audience of 7.7 million. The 8:30pm episode of Coronation Street saw homeless Tracy taken in by kind-hearted Emily. Norris had a small moment of realism as he voiced concern about living under the same room as a vindictive murderer (oh yeah, remember that!) and attracted a 33% audience share.
The washed-out seriousness of Blackout (BBC One, 9pm) saw a week on week fall of 1.6 million viewers. 2.9 million people tuned in for the middle episode of the three part drama as Christopher Eccleston proved once again just how serious he is. The episode attracted a 13% share, all hoping to find out if Mayor Demoys of the Dystopian Norf really is a replicant.
At points last night it was hard to tell apart Channel 5’s post watershed offerings. I’m told Big Brother (9pm) was up first, featuring a group of dead eyed characters talking incoherently, with the cheap soap attracting 1.4 million viewers. Next up was The Walking Dead (10pm) which saw former sheriff Rick Grimes and friends trapped in a bar, fending off human and zombie threats alike. The episode from the second series pulled in 685,000 viewers with another 97,000 watching an hour later on Channel 5 +1.
Sky Atlantic’s latest addition to their Monday night comedy line-up saw Adam Buxton, formally of The Adam & Joe Show, take his live show to the small screen. Bug saw Dr Buckles turn troll hunting into a fine art as he highlighted some of the most interesting viral clips on the internet and spun the internet’s most idiotic comments into great comedy. The first episode of the series attracted 64,000 viewers.
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.