TV Viewing Round-Up: April 2013
April saw the return to ITV of Simon Cowell’s other cash cow TV project, Britain’s Got Talent, proving there is still an appetite for watching members of the public make fools of themselves.
The most viewed programme of the month was the second edition of the talent show contest, which featured the relative charms of various musical, dancing and ‘comedy’ acts. Just over 11 million viewers tuned in to see them dazzle, confuse and infuriate judges Cowell, Walliams, Holden and Dixon
April also saw strong ratings for original drama output. Heading the field was the final episode of water-cooler whodunnit Broadchurch with 9.9 million viewers. Elsewhere Scott & Bailey drew in 7.3 million, Endeavour 7 million, Foyle’s War pulled in just under 7 million and The Village 6.9 million.
Returning to our screens last month after a three year absence, scruffy-haired magical genius Jonathan Creek brightened up a fairly dull looking Bank holiday weekend with a new puzzling crime.
Featuring the return of Rik Mayall’s equally astute Detective Inspector Gideon Pryke, ‘The Clue of the Savant’s Thumb’ saw a mini-Young Ones reunion with Nigel Planer on top form before being mysteriously murdered.
The usual false trails and wacky sub-plots that make up David Renwick’s second most popular creation entertained 8.8 million viewers, the highest rating for the show in over a decade.
ITV’s latest crime drama, Ice Cream Girls, got off to a strong start last month. Adapted from the novel by Dorothy Koomson, the three-part drama told the story of two former friends previously accused of murdering a school teacher when they were schoolgirls.
Mixing the action between the present day and the school girl’s fateful actions in 1995, just over 5.9 million people watched the first episode of the mini-series.
Possibly inspired the runaway success of BBC One’s Mrs Brown’s Boys, April saw the return of something thought long dead to ITV viewers…the situation comedy.
Leaving aside the isolated success of package holiday series Benidorm, the nation’s biggest commercial broadcaster hasn’t seriously attempted comedy since the somewhat disastrous Mumbai Calling (a show forgotten by most viewers minutes after it was broadcast).
Somehow ITV managed to convince acting stalwarts Sir Derek Jacobi and Sir Ian McKellen to front Vicious. The two thesps play a bitchy couple who make friends with their new, younger neighbour. Despite some lukewarm reviews, the opening episode still managed to attract a fairly impressive 6.3 million viewers.
Top Programmes (excluding soaps):
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Sky vs Freeview (share):
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Cable Digital vs Freeview (share):
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