Corrie’s latest doomed nuptials lead a strong night for ITV
Wednesday’s highly coveted soap glory belonged solely to commercial broadcaster ITV, with Weatherfield preparing to batten down the hatches as yet another tumultuous wedding got underway.
Last night’s romantic action in Coronation Street (ITV, 7:30pm) saw serial bigamist Peter Barlow dust off his well-worn groom’s suit and walk down the aisle once again, this time with the gobby, seething and completely oblivious walking spray tan, Carla Connor.
The snag was – and there’s always a fatal catch to these soap celebrations – that, of late, Peter’s wandering eye has been travelling in the direction of fellow orange skin enthusiast Tina McIntyre. The dramatic wedding, full of the usual stolen glances and guilty expressions, managed to bring in the day’s biggest audience.
8.6 million viewers tuned in for the hour-long special, with scenes of Peter marrying Carla while throwing painfully obvious looks to his latest vice resulting in a 39% share.
The draw of the ill-fated nuptials resulted in both of the BBC’s culinary offerings losing viewers. MasterChef: The Professionals was on BBC Two at 8pm with viewers getting well excited that the competition was slowly crawling towards the finish line. A slightly lower-than-usual audience of 2.5 million viewers tuned in to see Michel Roux Jr taste the latest creations and turn his gurning dial up to 11, resulting in an 11% share.
Things weren’t looking too good for Adam Henson and Nigel Slater who abandoned their lives and careers to set up shop together on an idyllic little farm. Last night the agriculture-mad duo looked at the poultry industry and the insane amount that the UK consumes each year.
Nigel and Adam’s Farm Kitchen (BBC One, 8pm) started off with an audience of 4.6 million three episodes ago but has been shedding viewers ever since. Last night just 3 million viewers watched as Nigel cooked Adam his favourite dish, with the original take on the chicken Kiev netting a 13% share.
An hour beforehand ITV’s first soap of the evening, Emmerdale (7pm) got underway. It was just another typical Wednesday in the sleepy village (there was a major incident involving a bus mowing down a child) but the pedestrian going ons still managed a solid 6.8 million viewers and a 34% share.
A bit later on ITV, I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! (8:30pm) filled up another hour and a half of the broadcaster’s prime time schedule but couldn’t manage to overthrow the infidelity and intrigue on Coronation Street.
An average audience of 8.5 million viewers watched as snooker legend and seemingly nice guy Steve Davis was asked to walk to his freedom. The 36% share meant that the show secured the biggest audience for its entire running time.
The good times didn’t reach all the way to BBC One unfortunately as the public broadcaster continued with its run of ‘classic’ New Tricks. Sandra, Brian, Jack and all your other old favourites were back for another lighthearted romp through the cold cases, this week featuring retro villains, the IRA.
The old epsiode about old detectives researching old cases managed to attract an audience of 2.8 million viewers and a 12% share.
At the exact same time, ‘edgy’ broadcaster Channel 4 attempted to get some kind of emotional response from viewers by showing them images of old people in psychical and emotional pain – all in the name of prime time entertainment.
The latest trying episode of 24 Hours in A&E (9pm) dealt with the usual dizzying highs and terrifying lows of staring death in the face on a daily basis, with 1.3 million viewers happy to spend their midweek evening in an irrationally emotional state, resulting in a 5% share.
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