TV Overnights: Law & Order: UK derails The White Queen from her throne
It’s as if the schedulers knew it was coming – the weekend’s television action was so barren of top quality entertainment, it was a good job the great outdoors provided an option.
Saturday saw TV audiences across the country make a break for the outside world as the temperature soared.
There were some slight victories still to be had though – BBC One, while not performing to its usual Saturday standard, took the top six spots – with a repeat of Mrs Brown’s Boys stealing the top spot with 4.3 million viewers at 10pm.
Commercial television’s great hope came in the form of Your Face Sounds Familiar (ITV, 7:30pm), a TV show so vapid it was a wonder it didn’t evaporate in Saturday’s humidity. The most popular non-BBC One show of the day saw the most random of celebrities dressing up as other random celebrities. And that’s about it.
It may be a monstrosity of nonsensical proportions but the show finally brought together the presenting might of Alesha Dixon and Paddy McGuiness. Hard to believe but it actually gets worse – any show in which Peter Andre gets to cast his opinion as a judge is surely a work of evil.
For some mad reason 2.9 million viewers tuned in to see Bobby Davro dress up as Ozzy Osbourne, securing an 18% share. ITV’s other Saturday blockbuster came in the form of the envelope-pushing All Star Family Fortunes at 8:45pm, with the fun and frolics securing 2.5 million viewers.
Dependable door stop Casualty (BBC One, 9:15pm) took in the day’s second biggest overall audience, as the never ending show switched things up a bit.
Finally tired of the generic hospital setting, Saturday night saw Doctor sensitive-yet-brilliant get caught up in a prison hostage situation because…sure, why not at this stage? The eternal flame in BBC’s line up pulled in 4.2 million viewers and a 23% share.
After the dullest Saturday night on record, Sunday sure had a lot to live up to.
Ye olden day shagathon, The White Queen (9pm) reached the half-way point, building itself up for its very epic climax in five weeks’ time. BBC One’s white knight of Sunday evening strode in on its HD horse, pulling in 3.6 million viewers into its web of political deviance and plethora of characters.
A 16% audience share watched as the action moved to the battlefield, resulting in the day’s sixth biggest show.
At the same time, ITV’s localised import Law & Order: UK (9pm) somehow managed to reach its seventh series already. To celebrate, the show was given a brutal makeover, with many of the main characters straight off the casting couch.
Her off Corrie and Casualty and him off Peep Show finally got to show off their ‘serious face’ as a train crash killed many people, opening the door for him from EastEnders‘ upcoming exit. The brooding hour of gritty London attracted more viewers than the corseted hijinks on the other side, with 4.6 million viewers (a 21% share) tuning in for the franchised procedural.
Meanwhile Channel 4 offered up the so-bonkers-it-works French drama The Returned at 9pm. The quaintest zombie show you’re ever likely the see – an eerie drama about the dead coming back to freak the bejesus out of the living – has been pulling in the critical acclaim for many weeks now, if not actually managing to secure the viewers.
An audience of 909,000 viewers braved the subtitles at the end of week, bringing in a 4% share and the channel’s biggest hit of the day.
Despite the traumatising dead French kids, big budget historical shows and Brendan O’Carroll in drag, it was Adam Henson’s passive menacing face that proved the most popular sight of the weekend.
As usual, harmless magazine show Countryfile (BBC One, 8pm) proved its popularity as the team headed to the Shetlands to point at birds, promote the eccentricities of English country life and be slightly condescending to locals they encounter. 5.1 million viewers watched Sunday’s northern adventure, securing a 24% share despite the lure of the seasonal appropriate weather.
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.