TV Overnights: Emmerdale’s latest teatime murder nets 6.4m for ITV
Last night soap fans were treated to yet another ruthless and brutal pre-watershed murder in what surely must be the Dales’ most hazardous village. Yes, that’s right – Cameron, Emmerdale‘s most prolific mentalist yet, was at it again.
After knocking off his love rival with a combination of repetitive movements and a large brick in a live episode last October, Cameron decided to lighten up Christmas by doing away with a farm hand and burying him in a shallow grave. All soundtracked to Silent Night.
We’ve come a long way since Jack Sugden’s inheritance problems in 1972.
Pushing the boundaries once again, last night’s double bill kicked off at 7pm and saw Gennie Walker overhear the ill details of Cameron’s year so far. 6 million viewers tuned in to see the tension build up, bringing in a 35% share.
Viewers were offered a break from precarious small town life at 7:30pm with Kate’s Baby Bounce – a nauseating unnecessary schedule filler which looked at the effect the wee baby Prince George will have on the economy. 2.8 million viewers and a 15% share managed to watch the whole thing.
At the same time on BBC One, things were looking positively upbeat in the grey borough of Walford. Thursday’s EastEnders (BBC One, 8pm) saw Whitney get in contact with the sexual predator who abused her while Ian Beale decided whether or not to shop his old friend Bianca into the police. Well, things were upbeat comparatively speaking.
The action over on ITV seemed to have dented audiences’ tastes for the London soap with only 5.7 million viewers tuning in for the latest shouting matches from E20, resulting in a 31% share.
Events took a sinister turn on the return trip to Emmerdale at 8pm as Cameron and Debbie went all Jason Bourne as they pursued Gennie in a pretty impressive car chase. 6.4 million viewers, the day’s biggest audience, watched as Gennie’s car tumbled down a ravine. The scenes of Cameron taking a very active part in his neighbour’s death secured a 33% share.
Unsurprisingly, the show garnered a fair amount of traffic on Twitter, generating 1,384 tweets per minute.
All the earlier excitement in the 9pm slot seemed a little damp, with BBC One’s Crimewatch providing viewers with some real life villains to ruminate over. Presenter Kirtsy Young’s dulcet tones kept 3.2 million viewers in a state of calm panic for an hour, resulting in a 16% share.
Surprisingly this was enough to secure the prime time slot and, when ignoring the top two soaps and flagship news shows, was the most watched programme of the day.
Over on Channel 4, the thrilling finale of First Dates (9pm) followed in Game of Thrones‘ footsteps by killing off most of the main cast. Not really, but thankfully some of the desperate attention seekers did fail to find love. 894,000 viewers followed the hour of vacant chit chat.
More reality entertainment was on the cards at the same time as ITV offered up the second part of the observational tale about a law firm in Manchester, The Briefs (9pm), which only managed an audience of 1.8 million and a 9% share.
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.