TV Overnights: EastEnders and Emmerdale remain civil and share Tuesday’s glory
Tuesday evening’s television saw Emmerdale (ITV, 7pm) delve further into the murky world of Breaking Bad as put-upon café worker Brenda struggled to keep her illness a secret from her nearest and dearest.
Sadly, that’s as far as that comparison currently goes as the tightly knit community is presently free from the perils of crystal meth production and addiction. Then again, who knows what the next executive producer will do to make their mark?
The rural drama delivered ITV’s second biggest audience of the day and a 30% share. A total of 6.5 million viewers watched as Brenda decided to bury her head in the sand and dismiss the notion of surgery.
For once, soap life seemed a little more bearable over on BBC One. Despite the fact there was a scene in EastEnders (7:30pm) where Ian Beale was gushing with tears, it wasn’t all grime and faux grittiness for the Walford veteran – the market stall trader eventually wiped his snotty face and allowed time for a little romance.
7.4 million viewers, Tuesday’s biggest audience, watched as Ian seduced shopkeeper Denise with saucy tales of living rough on the street. The idea of Denise getting involved with the sexless serial groom is all kinds of wrong but at least there was some happiness on display in Walford last night.
Well, until the inevitable screeching match that all couples on EastEnders seem to enjoy so much. A 32% audience share watched the blossoming relationship of the Square’s latest power couple.
A slightly lower than usual audience for the BBC One soap could only mean one thing – it’s arch nemesis, football, was dragging viewers away to the other side. UEFA Champions League was up straight after Emmerdale on ITV as AC Milan faced off against Barcelona live from the Nou Camp in sunny Catalonia.
Lionel Messi got straight in there, scoring Barcelona’s first goal 5 minutes in. And after that? Well, not to be rude, but AC Milan just lay there overwhelmed, allowing their Spanish friends do whatever they wanted to them. Messi was back with another goal in the 40th minute, followed by Villa and Alba in the second half of the game.
An average audience of 4.4 million viewers caught the entire coverage which ended in a 4-0, including the 15 minute warm up with Chiles and Keane. The game peaked in the final 15 minutes with 5.6 million viewers watching as Alba cemented Barcelona’s home victory.
Mum-pleaser Holby City (BBC One, 8pm) held its own against the football, with 4.7 million viewers tuning in for the latest visit to the emotional medical professionals, resulting in a 20% share.
On the same channel in the 9pm slot was the return of schedule-botherer MasterChef (BBC One), a show whose format has been through more permutations and mutations than the bloody Power Rangers. The ninth series in the current Apprentice-style format also welcomed back the culinary world’s answer to Tweedledee and Tweedledum.
Po-faced presenters John Torode and that skinny lad from Weight Watchers, Gregg Wallace, invited the first five contestants into the deadly gastronomic arena and put them through a series of mental, physical, skill and mystery challenges. The first hour of the series (a whopping 23 in total) secured an average audience of 4.2 million viewers and an 18% share.
This wasn’t enough to fully compete with the football on ITV. Only the second half of the heating up food competition managed to secure the highest audience share across all channels, once the match wound down.
Channel 4 received its biggest audience of the day in the prime time slot with the self-explanatory concept documentary 16 Kids and Counting (9pm). The show about various parents that show no signs of self-restraint was watched by 1.8 million viewers, with life in the human production factories netting an 8% share.
At the same time over on BBC Three was the second and final part of what was kind of like The Slap spliced with some Skins DNA, The Crash (9pm). The drama follows a group of yoofs, leading up to and dealing with the consequences of a fatal car crash.
Last night saw the survivors meet up nine moths later and was impressively heavy handed for a programme created for a specific demographic. The audience did fall slightly from last week, down from 465,000 to last night’s 427,000 viewers. The youthful brand of angst and emotional outpouring secured a 2% share.
BBC News at Ten stole the 10pm slot with 4.9 million viewers (a 27% share), while Shameless provided Channel 4 with an audience of 1 million. At the same time was the third episode of Sue Perkins’ sitcom Heading Out on BBC Two.
The comedy, about a Vet who plans to come out to her parents, secured a 4% share, with 628,000 viewers tuning in to see the usual collection of standard quirky characters.
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.