TV Overnights: 7.8m tune in to see Tyrone get beat up. Again.
Wednesday night witnessed not one but three prime time finales across the three major terrestrial broadcasters, with some faring better than others.
Mystery conspiracy drama The Town wrapped up on ITV1 at 9pm as perma-grump Mark tried desperately to piece together the truth about his parent’s apparent ‘suicide’.
If that wasn’t rubbish enough he was also dealing with the fact the return to his home town was permanent and he was now also responsible for his trollish little sister and gung-ho nan.
The third and final episode of the paranoid homecoming thriller saw Mark fight the small town powers that be (including Martin Clune’s drunky Mayor), in order to uncover all their gritty secrets.
The sinister drama proved a bit too much for some – The Town saw a massive 63% fall in audience over its short run. 4.3 million viewers watched the shocking opening three weeks ago but only 1.6 million turned up last night to find out what really happened to the unassuming Nicholas family, resulting in a 7% share.
Meanwhile on Channel 4, the strangest boy in the classroom, Heston Blumenthal, built a giant Christmas pudding that was big enough to step inside. And that was about it, really. Happy Birthday, Jesus.
Heston’s Fantastical Christmas (Channel 4, 9pm) has been flying in the face of the impending global food crisis for the past seven weeks and last night’s closing episode was no exception. The remit of the show was always very loose – it’s basically an hour of Heston reminding us just how clever and outside of the box he is, all the time smacking of a man trying too hard.
1.6 million people watched as the tiny culinary artiste whipped up his final fantastical and monstrously wasteful delight, almost the exact same audience that tuned in for the first helping seven weeks ago.
Which brings us to the BBC’s prime time champion for the second day running. The unexpected ‘where the hell did that come from?’ success of Last Tango in Halifax (BBC One, 9pm) has already guaranteed a second series before the first came to an end. The drama has an air of fantasy about it – two elderly characters serve as the main protagonists and they live in a world where their grown children happily spend time with them.
Last night saw the randy retirees hit a rocky spot in their relationship as forward thinking Alan called off the marriage to timeworn totty Celia. News that her daughter (forever Raquel from Corrie) was now a paid up member of the new-fangled lesbian movement was a lot to take in for the old fashioned girl.
The cosy drama has pulled in an average of 6 million viewers for the past five episodes, with last night’s final attracting 6.3 million and a 27% share, easily beating the competitors in the same time slot.
As usual though, it was those wide appealing soap operas that secured the day’s biggest audiences. It was day two of Chas’ trial in Emmerdale (ITV1, 7pm) and things weren’t looking entirely desperate for the cellar-dwelling temptress.
Spiteful niece Debbie took to the stage stand in order to hang Aunty Chas out to dry (in fairness, she did steal Debbie’s fella – the bloke who actually did the murder. I know this, I thought you should know too). 6.6 million viewers watched as Debbie’s rant backfired, accidentally lending some credit to Chas’ version of events. The rural soap netted a 31% share and the day’s second biggest audience.
You should know by now that any episode of Coronation Street (ITV1, 7:30pm) that specifically focuses on Kirsty and Tyrone will most likely end in a gamma ray induced freak out. Wednesday saw the complicated couple visit the Vicar to sort out the details of their sham marriage.
It didn’t take long for something to trigger the green eyed monster in Kirsty and, unlucky for whipping boy Tyrone, it resulted in one of her worst meltdowns. 7.8 million viewers watched as the unhinged mentalist swiftly smashed Tyrone’s arm in between a door and it’s frame. The episode, which put Tyrone’s whole ‘long game’ tactic into doubt, pulled in a 35% audience share and the biggest audience of the day.
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.