TV Overnights: Teatime meets prime time
Just when you thought the BBC prime time schedule couldn’t get any more twee, hysterically adored comedian Victoria Wood was back on our screen last night to educate us about something really important.
Along with sewing bees and agricultural magazine shows, the corporation saw fit to commission an in depth exploration of the little plant that could – tea.
Victoria Wood’s Nice Cup of Tea (BBC One, 9pm) followed the now-standard country hopping format, as if these programmes were designed around the presenter’s dream holiday schedule. The first part of the documentary series saw the comedian globe trot obsessively to revel in all things tea.
The gentile programme managed to secure a surprisingly strong audience with 3.3 million viewers tuning in to see Victoria’s grandiose adventure holiday, securing a 14% share.
Despite the glorious HD rendering of tea Meccas Calcutta and Shanghai, it was ITV’s grey depiction of Northern police life that won the 9pm slot. The second episode of series three jumped back in time and cleared up some plot strands left over from last year’s finale.
Over the years Scott & Bailey (ITV, 9pm) have excelled in crime fighting, carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders, balancing chaotic work lives with relationships and, after last night’s episode, time travelling can now be added to their repertoire.
You know – all the usual problems modern women now face. Wednesday’s winning drama was down 14% from last week’s opening episode but still managed to secure 5 million viewers. The flashback to Rachel Bailey’s (Suranne Jones) suitably miserable wedding brought in a 22% audience share.
At the same time, Channel 4 heralded the return of a winning traumatic hour of pain, confusion and plain old suffering. If you thought One Born Every Minute was a particularly stressful way to unwind at night time then 24 Hours in A&E (Channel 4, 9pm) was not for you.
The set-up is the same as its spiritual predecessor but instead of little bundles of joy coming through the doors, the staff at King’s College Hospital had to deal with bundles of much messier material.
Wednesday evening’s entertainment was brought to you by a severe and unprovoked attack on a young woman coming home for a night out. If that wasn’t enough to float your boat there was also a critically injured ten year old child to keep you on the edge of your seat.
To what purpose these horrifying real life deaths are meant to serve viewers is lost in the confusion of the emergency ward but 2.6 million viewers showed up for the opening episode of series three all the same. As well as grabbing an 11% share the grisly show secured Channel 4’s biggest audience of the day.
In the 8pm arena, the two big stations’ culinary offerings battled it out for glory. Food Glorious Food,(ITV, 8pm), the confused cross between ‘niceness’ The Great British Bake Off and the faux drama of The X Factor tumbled on, netting 2.3 million viewers and an 11% share.
This wasn’t enough to stop MasterChef (BBC One, 8pm) running away with the time slot. The latest round of competitive cooking brought in 4.7 million for the channel.
Soap responsibilities fell exclusively on the shoulders of ITV yesterday, as Emmerdale kicked things off at 7pm. The latest bout of rural backstabbing brought in 6.8 million and a 34% share.
Immediately after on Coronation Street (ITV, 7:30pm), spawn of all that is wrong and evil, Simon Barley tormented Sunita’s children over her untimely death. The biggest audience of the day, 8.5 million viewers, tuned in to see Street hero Karl take the little brat aside and shake him about for a bit. The most satisfying moment in the Street’s history secured a 39% share.
Sky Atlantic somehow saw fit to air the eagerly anticipated (although only by the obsessive small base of fans who have infiltrated the media) two -hour series six premier of Mad Med at the late hour of 10pm.
The episode saw ad agency Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce hurtle towards the end of the seventies as anti-hero Don Draper recent mask of contentment began to slip. A measly 58,000 viewers got caught up in the excitement, providing a minuscule 0.4% share. On the bright side, it was the channel’s biggest hit 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.