TV Overnights: Gadgets and adventures fail to free viewers from the jungle
A brand new week brought Richard Hammond’s same old face – last night he got all evangelical about nature for the last time on BBC One.
The enthusiastic presenter wrapped up his boy’s own escapade in a suitably adventurous fashion – last night he was interacting with whales while sitting inside a submersible vehicle, all in the name of education, naturally.
Richard Hammond’s Miracles of Nature (9pm) brought us the sight of a paralysed man taking his first steps thanks to an endoskeleton suit inspired by arthropods. Hammond has designed the series to hide behind the pretence of science; it’s just all about sending him to exciting locations really.
It’s a good job that the mechaphiliac is having such a good time – it would seem that the audience isn’t as keen. Last night’s final episode pulled in nearly the same amount of viewers as last week’s slice; although this is down a huge 58% when compared to the first episode two weeks ago. The final bout of adventuring, thanks to the generous licence fee, attracted 2.4 million viewers and a 10% share.
There was a surprise exit from the jungle last night on I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here (ITV1, 9pm) (hereon known as IACGMOOH – catchy). Comedian Brian Connelly was unexpectedly jettisoned back in to the real world under a cloud of medical secrecy.
Meanwhile Made in Chelsea oxygen thief Hugo Taylor lost out to David Haye on the immunity challenge, which involved bugs and other squeamish things (for a change). The viewing nation is still somehow gripped – 9.4 million viewers caught up with all the latest amateur dramatics from all the way from Queensland, securing a 39% share, easily bagging the 9pm time slot.
Meanwhile, over on Channel 4 was the final visit to the alcopop-soaked streets of apocalyptic Blackpool. The tenth and final episode of 999: What’s Your Emergency? (9pm) depicted a bleak social landscape filled with lost souls who continuously wasted the time and money of the emergency services and could have easily been mistaken for Tory propaganda.
And there was an explosion too! 1.2 million people watched as the three arms of the emergency services joined together, like a supergroup, to tackle a large blaze on a residential street, securing a 5% share.
Earlier on Channel 5 was the latest episode of hyper-silly The Gadget Show (8pm). Aimed at Dads and children alike, the grating tone of the show has expanded for the latest series, finding nonsensical excuses to travel to different parts of the world to test out different cameras. Last night saw Jason and Pollyanna in Switzerland and the scripted banter came thick and fast.
There were reviews, ‘exciting’ challenges and lots of stereotypical Swiss men. 765,000 viewers watched as presenter Pollyanna Woodward pretended she really cared which budget HD made her home-made video come to life more. The show, like a mash up of T3 and Fun To Learn magazines, secured a 3% share for the channel.
Thankfully, half an hour, later Channel 4 offered us an alternative gadget show – one that didn’t make the viewer want to slam their heads through a pane of glass. Stephen Fry Gadget Man (8:30pm) saw the overachieving jack of all trades explore his love of technology, specifically devices that promise to make our commutes slightly more tolerable.
The director of Norwich City Football Club (among many, many things) enlisted the help of celeb pal Jonathan Ross, to make a spectacle of himself. Which, thankfully, came quite naturally to him.
Among the gadgets tested were motorised roller skates, Google’s Project Glass and an amphibious London taxi cab. 2 million viewers watched Stephen’s taxi break down in the Thames by the Isle of Dogs, nabbing an 8% share and the channel’s biggest audience of the day.
Earlier in the day, soaps ruled the land with Coronation Street getting used to being the nation’s second favourite. Although ITV1 remains the overall winner – the first episode at 7:30pm attracted 9 million viewers and the second visit an hour later pulled in 8.8 million.
Over on BBC One was the first trip of the week to Walford and EastEnders improved immensely on last week’s trashing from Emmerdale. 8 million people, a 67% jump episode on episode, turned in for the latest revelations from E20, 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.