TV Overnights: Bake Off’s return secures 5.6m for little ol’ BBC Two
Tuesday night heralded the return of BBC Two’s great hope as another round of determined yet bumbling contestants entered the quaint white tent of horror for The Great British Bake Off.
8pm saw the return of Mary Berry, technical challenges, teary competitors’ breakdowns and even that bold, bulbous squirrel. The increasingly popular show’s fourth series opened up with some fiendish angel cakes and cruel chocolaty creations and proved almost as popular as last year’s all-male finale.
The concoction of genuine tension mixed with harmless fun, a heap of modesty, a generous sprinkling of dusty innuendos and an industrial vat of Paul Hollywood’s spray tan still proved a winning recipe for BBC Two.
5.6 million viewers tuned in for the 13 challengers’ introduction, as well as the subsequent first-week termination for the unluckiest baker. The twee teatime fun easily walked away with the 8pm slot while an impressive audience share of 26% learned that there is indeed a difference between salt and sugar.
Holby City (8pm) kept the fires burning on BBC One and still managed to wrangle its dedicated, audience despite the waft of freshly baked produce on the other side. 4.4 million viewers tuned in to see those silly patients get in the way of the sexy doctors’ personal lives, securing a 21% share.
Over on ITV a repeat of Oxford detective Lewis sprawled across two time slots as yet another poor academic met a ghastly end. The two hour episode from May 2012 attracted 1.8 million viewers and an 8% share.
Later on at 9pm, BBC One and Channel 4 both meditated on the gritty subject of past crimes but used extremely different tactics.
New Tricks, currently the BBC’s big draw, waved goodbye to an original cast member as Alun Armstrong’s Brian sailed off on the seas of another retirement. The aged former solver of cold cases was surprised to find himself solving just one last past crime before he really clocked out for good. Teaming up with his wife to create the Batman and Robin of the Saga generation, Brian managed to save the team of old dogs while capturing the day’s biggest audience.
6.5 million viewers showed up for the sleuth’s final episode before being replaced with Tom Daley next week. The raucous retirement fun brought in a 29% share and was unbeaten in its time slot.
The second series of the critically acclaimed Top Boy (Channel 4, 9pm) was a world away from the boutique neck wear that adorned the cast of New Tricks. The reintroduction into drug dealer Dushane’s harsh world brought in Channel 4’s biggest audience of the day.
Just over 1 million people tuned in to learn that it’s not so easy being top boy on the block (don’t worry, it’s not some sex thing). The kingpin’s latest bout of trouble secured a 5% share at 9pm with another 214,000 watching an hour later.
Typically the nation’s yuff took to Twitter to talk about the urban dystopia, with Top Boy generating 95 tweets for every thousand viewers.
Emmerdale (7pm) proved to be the third biggest hit of the day earlier on ITV. 5.6 million viewers watched as the corpse in the glamping field just wouldn’t stay buried, bringing in a 33% share.
Good old fashioned cockney fun was on offer afterwards on BBC One. Tuesday’s visit to the happy borough of Walford saw two mouthy pleps slap each other about while gruff market traders Kat and Bianca slithered about the place on a mission to find some MEN.
The latest action in EastEnders brought 6 million viewers and a 33% share, securing the top two spots of the night for BBC One.
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