TV Viewing Summary W/E 06/04/97

The first full week of Channel 5 data is now here to pick and muse over, (see Channel 5 Ratings Round-Up feature) but the station has yet to make any real impact on the ‘other four’ with regards to viewing figures. Easter Monday proved to be a rather forgettable evening’s viewing. In choosing the lesser of many evils, the Angus Deayton hosted show Before They Were Famous attracted an audience of 15.34 million, surprisingly high for one of those ‘clips of the young celebs’ shows. Just goes to show that there is a substantial audience wanting to watch, even on a Bank Holiday.

Still, it was nice to see something sort of new, even if the format is rather tried and tested. There don’t actually seem to be that many TV companies these days who are coming up with genuine, fresh programming. Wednesday night, however, did bring an exception to this with Neil Morrissey starring in the two hour ‘comedy thriller’ The Vanishing Man. 11.93 million viewers tuned in to watch, and it certainly made a change from watching yet another ‘two hour murder drama’. Sarah Lancashire (Raquel from Coronation Street) returned to the small screen this week, along with the much loved Pam Ferris in what is looking like a 1997 remake of the Nerys Hughes classic The District Nurse, perfect for the Sunday night ITV drama slot and 11.98 million viewers agreed.

On the soap front, Tuesday night saw another Emmerdale ‘one hour long special’. The trick seems to have worked in the short term at least; Monday night’s episode was seen by only 9.38 million viewers, whereas Tuesday’s attracted 12.68 million and was followed on the next night with 13.10 million. The audience began to tail off again for Thursday’s and Friday’s episodes, achieving 11.52 and 11.46 million respectively.