ITV marginally increases its viewing share for the third week running, taking 31.5% against BBC1’s 28.6%. Channel 5’s share drops below the 4% mark for the first time since early March.
Where The Heart Is (10.31 million), ITV’s ‘premier’ drama, moves into its second week of a new series, with both Pam Ferris and Sarah Lancashire doing their very best to throw some life into this rather mundane exercise in ‘feel good’ drama.
Midweek drama fares no better on ‘Britain’s Most Popular Channel’, with Midsomer Murders (9.39 million). Dramatic formula is becoming so stagnant at present that even light entertainment seems more preferable. Take City Central for example, BBC1’s drama ‘piece de resistance’ of the year, starring Paul Nicholls (the pretty one who used to be Psycho Joe in Eastenders). This show is doing so embarrassingly badly (7.86 million) that even Stars In Their Eyes can kick its proverbial with 9.18 million. Yet again the Jonathan Creek repeats (8.06 million) look like being just about the only thing worth watching on Saturday night, and they’re due to finish next year. Maybe I’ll have to start going out into the real world……
The soaps continue as usual. Coronation Street takes an average audience figure this week of 16.03 million, with Eastenders still chasing with 13.10 million. It was another good week for Emmerdale in its warm up to moving into four episodes a week, with an average audience this time of 11.10 million. All three of this week’s episodes were also in the top ten.
Comedy doesn’t seem to be doing too well on the two main channels, but then that’s nothing new. The good news is that Goodnight Sweetheart has its penultimate episode (8.17 million): the adventures of Gary Sparrow continue to sustain about as much laughter around the TV nation as a pork chop in a Synagogue. Things are getting desperate though – this week 8.06 million people tuned in to watch the Freddie Star Show.
Show of the week goes, yet again, to Father Ted. This one looks like being the episode of the series; featuring the ‘heart throb’ Eoin McLove visiting Craggy Island, following Mrs Doyle’s victory in a poetry contest. “What is this place,” he comments upon arriving at the Parochial House “some kind of mental hospital?”. Despite having its audience split over two nights, Father Ted is top of the Channel 4 charts this week with 4.71 million.
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Reviewer: Jim Sparkes
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