Gory Whitechapel wins 9pm slot from BBC One’s nature doc

Wednesday’s prime time slot was once again a mixed bag of reality-based programming with just one scripted drama making its way onto the main channel’s 9pm line up.

BBC One continued to celebrate the uniquely British concept of seasons on The Great British Year at 9pm and – would you believe it? – we were already well into Spring. If it all got a bit too confusing for you it was lucky that Joseph Fiennes was on hand to guide viewers through the meaning of the season, often describing exactly the scenes playing out on screen.

The nature documentary with the bizarre title nearly plucked the time slot away from ITV but in the end 3.2 million viewers wasn’t enough. The second part of the observational programme netted an audience share of 15%…whatever the next episode brings is anyone’s guess.

Well – the viewing public really are a fickle bunch. Only one week after thinking they were all figured out they go and abandon the safe and comforting image of the Queen’s glorious countryside for a rather different take on modern Britain.

Whether it was bad scheduling or genuine viewer fatigue, the fourth series of Whitechapel (9pm) didn’t quite make the splash ITV was hoping for. Last night brought the grand finale of the gruesome and fun throwback to Hammer horror and improved slightly on last week’s audience

3.4 million people tuned in for the mental finale, which continued on from last week’s case and saw the Tower Hamlet street cleaners (metaphorically speaking) still on the hunt for some cannibals lurking around the sewers of E1.

Another average day for DI Chandler and his team secured a 16% share and just about won the time slot from BBC One.

Meanwhile on Channel 4, the latest ego build on Grand Designs netted the channel’s biggest audience of the day with 2.5 million viewers and a 12% share.

At the same time, Channel 5 continued to justify its place in the terrestrial TV market with Fat For Cash (9pm), a show featuring women who eat their way to an income by some webcam action. Part of the prestigious Supersize Season, the tale of the large girls and their dubious lifestyle choice brought in 1.1 million viewers and a 5% share

Earlier at 8pm, head Rottweiler Anne Robinson worked the nation’s impressionable viewers into a paranoid frenzy with help from runts of the litter and all round hacks Matt Allwright and Chris Hollins on Watchdog (BBC One).

Also on hand to alert the masses was wine snob Oz Clarke who made a shocking discovery about cheap discounted wine…turns out it’s kind of rubbish.

A remarkable 4.4 million viewers tuned in for the expert advice and consumer education, securing the biggest audience in the 8pm slot.

It was a night of finales on ITV as the inundated horror of Big Star’s Little Star (8pm) wrapped up its (worryingly successful) first series. 3.7 million viewers watched to find out which shameless A list celebrities would be rolled out for the fun final bout of exploiting their own children.

General all round awful human being Sally Bercow was on board (allegedly bringing her daughter to tears at one stage) followed by singing sensation Suzanne Shaw (that one from Hearsay that isn’t on Corrie) netting a 17% share.

Due to EastEnders’ absence from the midweek schedule, ITV had total dominion over Wednesday’s soap commotion and had the decency to get them out of the way before 8pm. Refreshingly, both Emmerdale (7pm) and Coronation Street (7:30pm) came in single vacuum pack helpings, whittling down the primetime soap action to just one hour.

So seeing as lately the village of Emmerdale has been an epicentre of murder and mayhem, two characters took time out to neck a bottle of wine and vent their problems.

6.8 million viewers watched as psycho-romancer Chas and respectable married man Paddy took comfort in each other’s bodies (which in itself sounds scarier than anything Whitechapel could offer). A 35% share meant that the rural soap was the second biggest hit of the day.

Straight afterwards Coronation Street swooped in and stole Wednesday’s crown, beating Emmerdale by 1.2 million viewers. Even with a main character dying and planning her final days, Coronation Street is still less depressing than EastEnders at its jolliest (usually involving a painfully executed  ‘caper’ involving Aflie).

Last night’s downbeat action secured just over 8 million viewers and a 39% 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