TV Overnights: New Trick’s old dogs still carry some weight
Despite an uncomfortable public spat between the actors and scriptwriters, the ninth series of New Tricks (BBC One, 9pm) continued on regardless. After Jack’s departure last week the fantastic four have now become a holy trinity of old school crime solving.
In the second episode of the current run, the team spent a lot of their time poking around a snooty public school after the skeleton of a missing PE teacher is found. Despite losing a founding cast member, accusations by the actors that the stories are becoming stale and an over familiarity that only a ninth series can bring, New Tricks still had the pulling power to grab the biggest non-soap audience of the day.
6.9 million viewers (a 28% share) tuned in to see the middle aged agents of justice unravelling the bow of mystery. That’s a -10% drop on last week’s series opening.
Last night it seemed that Nicola Walker (Ruth from Spooks) has stepped up her game for global domination; not content with popping up in New Tricks, the actress also appeared at the exact same time in another prime time drama; A Mother’s Son (9pm) was ITV’s latest venture in to psychological thriller, just a day after the finale of the lukewarm The Last Weekend.
Hermione Norris (Spooks, again) and Martin Clunes (he once had a cameo on The Upper Hand) starred as a newly married couple trying to bring together their respective families, Brady Bunch style, in picturesque Suffolk.
However, unlike The Brady Bunch the drama is instigated by the discovery of a teenage girl’s corpse. It wasn’t long before Hermione’s growing suspicions got the better of her and she was rummaging around her son’s bedroom for clues, all the while staring in to the distance with a weighty look of concern.
A Mother’s Son fared a lot better than recent efforts and was the highest rated non-soap programme of the day for the channel. 4.2 million viewers (an 18% share) watched the drama, with 302,000 of those choosing to view on ITV1 HD.
Early on in the evening, the never-ending stories that are the soaps ruled over the viewer’s choice. Once again Coronation Street (ITV1) has proved more popular than soft southern rival, EastEnders (BBC One, 8pm). Emmerdale (ITV1) got the party going at 7pm, with 5.9 million people tuning in. This was followed by the first episode of Weatherfield fun, which saw Tommy Duckworth struggling with his numerous jobs. 7.6 million (a 35% share) watched as the overworked debt-ridden jack of all trades fall asleep in the café.
EastEnders faced the tricky prospect of wrapping up the Mystery Lover storyline; which is grating for everyone involved. After the Vic was shut down to an infestation of bed bugs (too easy) Kat is moved to a bedsit and decided to bring along the bloody bandage smeared with a declaration of love from Mysterion. The story line’s continuing silliness attracted 6.8 million viewers and a 30% share.
It was back to the street at 8:30pm and all that subtle foreshadowing earlier led to Tommy driving straight in to the back of a lorry as a result of having a nap while speeding down a road. The shocking twist captured the attention of 7.7 million viewers – the biggest audience of Monday.
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.