TV Overnights: Strictly beats X Factor, Downtown beats Strictly
The weekend brought us the concluding part of the apocalypse, more Strictly and X Factor than anyone would ever want and the end of Downton…
Friday
Either Derren Brown: Apocalypse was completely fake or victim Steve Brosnan has the worst family in history. The first episode saw the layabout fooled in to believing the end of the world had arrived after waking up in the horrific zombie infected aftermath of a devastating meteor shower. All with the help of his nearest and dearest.
Like an extreme version of the Duke of Edinburgh Award, the second part at 9pm on Channel 4 saw Steven pushed to the edge, all to encourage the directionless lad to ‘man up’.
The concluding part of the ‘experiment’ pulled in just about the same amount of viewers week on week, down by just under 200,000 people. 2.1 million viewers (a 9% share) watched as the shell shocked lad gawped sedately at the surreal situations playing out in front of his eyes. Less character building, more psychologically scarring.
Earlier on in the night, it was the soaps that were running amok, contaminating the schedule with their infectious heightened emotions. Naturally Emmerdale led the way at 7pm on ITV1. Many casual viewers who showed up for the anniversary celebrations seem to be still hanging around like a bad smell, as the rural drama netted 7 million viewers and a 34% share.
As per usual, EastEnders (8pm) bettered the slightly more sedate soap when it went out later on BBC One. Friday saw Syed’s problems escalate as he reported the hate attack on Christian to the police.
This being EastEnders though, it was only a matter of time before a someone’s unnecessary lies came crawling out of the woodwork, blurring the moral boundaries even further. Turns out it was Christian himself who dispensed said smack down, putting his future with Syed in danger. Sprinkle in a bit of blackmail and you had the perfect ingredients for a night in Walford. 7.2 million viewers tuned in for the week’s final fix of E20 silliness, attracting a 31% share.
The first visit to the cobbles at 7:30pm saw Audrey, Gloria and Gail form a dynamic crime busting team, setting their trap hoping to snare dashing stud muffin Nigel Havers. 8 million viewers watched as the possible con man figured out the ploy without much effort, netting a 36% share and the biggest audience of the night. The second visit to Coronation Street at 8:30pm fell to 7.2 million people.
The night winded down with the Barclaycard Mercury Prize Awards Show at 11:35pm on Channel 4. The pre-recorded event from North London’s Roundhouse saw hard man Plan B, Richard Hawley, the Maccabees, Ben Howard and Django Django fighting it out for one of the most appreciated accolades in the music industry. 170,000 viewers watched (a 2.4% share) as Alt-J (them with the lead singer who sounds like an amorous yet clinically depressed Speedy Gonzales) collected the prize for their debut album An Awesome Wave.
Saturday
Saturday evening saw Strictly Come Dancing grow in strength and continue to chip in to The X Factor’s popularity. The extremely simplistic dancing competition saw the 11 remaining fox trotters, jivers and…tangoers try their best to win the public’s affection. After last week’s shock discharge of Sid Owen, the rest of the d-list celebrities knew no one was safe in the Thunderdrome.
Saturday saw the high energy two hour event gain even more viewers week on week, with a total of 9.8 million tuning in to see which two publicity-needy celebrities would get the lowest scores. An impressive 43% audience share watched as Fern Cotton saved herself and distracted everyone from her inadequate skills by being dragged around the floor by her near naked partner.
It wasn’t such a good weekend for The X Factor (ITV1, 8:20pm). The main sore point this year seems to be the retention of novelty ‘personalities’ over promising voices. When viewers locked eyes on Essex expatriate Ryan Clark earlier this year, it was clear producers chose to focus on the talent-shy singer just to see him get a harsh reality check from the judges. Their surprise willingness to put him through for entertainment purposes must be coming back to haunt them.
Saturday saw viewers fall again as the popular Lucy Spraggan withdrew from the intense and demanding contest. The audience was down 11% week on week, with 7.4 million viewers tuning in for the exhausting two hour carousel of karaoke, resulting in a 32% share.
While The X Factor secured the biggest audience share in its time slot, BBC One didn’t do so bad even if it was on the losing side. Merlin (8:15pm) and Casualty (9pm) both did their best against ITV1’s juggernaut show and still managed to pull in 5.3 and 4 million viewers respectively.
Sunday
Last night meant only one thing for many people across the UK – the finale of Downton Abbey‘s third series. Viewers forgave a rushed and uneven second series and tuned in in droves, with 8.7 million viewers watching the first new episode way back on the 16th of September. Facing a generally positive reaction, the latest series saw the audience grow over the past eight weeks.
The final episode saw the Crawley folk become even more progressive! Not only was there jazz and lady wot works in the family – they eventually helped out Thomas after his ‘interaction’ with fellow footman Jimmy last week. Even Miss O’Brien got a taste of comeuppance. Sort of. The final visit to the country estate in Yorkshire pulled in 9.8 million viewers, translating in a 38% share.
This means the Crawford family drama narrowly beat Saturday’s Strictly Come Dancing to take the weekend’s biggest audience. The historic big budget soap had to fight off vicious competition from 80’s classic Three Men and a Baby over on E4 at 8pm. 145,000 viewers watched the film that makes child abandonment hilarious, with a further 112,000 tuning in on E4+1 an hour later.
Strictly Come Dancing brought the magic back to BBC One at 8:20pm for 40 minutes of song and dance. 9.6 million viewers (a 37% share) tuned in to watch as Bond star Colin Salmon exit via the ejector seat.
The X Factor Results on ITV1 at 8pm saw Gary Barlow’s stress reach critical levels as not-funny-anymore dimwit Ryan Clark hung in the competition while Kye Sones got the boot. 8.9 million viewers watched the shock decision, netting 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.