Latest bombshell in EastEnders bags top spot for BBC One
Last night saw BBC One kick off its evening line-up with yet another shocking bombshell from the turbulent and fictional London borough of Walford, as EastEnders (7:30pm) continued to surprise and impress.
Somehow managing to keep spoilers out of the feverishly passionate soap community, last night’s tale of ordinary, backstabbing, working class folk side-blinded viewers in the final few moments as a rare pang of enlightenment flashed across Phil Mitchell’s bulbous face just in time for the famous drum beats.
Five months after the tumultuous Carter family landed in the square, fans were shocked to learn that the square’s official drunk, Shirley Carter, was revealed to be the mother of ‘brother’ Mick, adding several more layers of issues to an already problematic clan.
Thursday’s biggest audience, 6.8 million viewers, tuned in as Phil finally realised what was eating up his crazy ex, securing a 35% share.
Holby City (8pm) continued to fly the flag for BBC One, straight afterwards as the 32nd episode of the 16th series continued to offer more of what its loyal viewers have come to know and love.
The medical drama secured the 8pm slot for the channel, with 4.2 million viewers and a 20% audience share tuning in for the outpouring of disinfected-tinged emotions. BBC One’s success continued in the 9pm slot, as the first in a three part ‘period’ drama starring Philip Glenister got under way.
From There to Here (BBC One, 9pm) focused on a fractured family as a frosty get-together was interrupted by the Manchester bombings of 1996. 4.5 million viewers watched as Daniel, played by Glenister, embraced life after his near death experience.
The optimistic drama, which saw Daniel go on to help a young single mother escape the run-down area he grew up in, brought in a 22% share and the biggest audience in the 9pm slot.
Over on the commercial side of the coin, ITV’s Emmerdale‘s (7pm) charming storyline about faking a miscarriage netted an audience of 5.7 million viewers. Charity’s latest scheme, which ensues she will one day go to soap hell for eternity, brought in a 31% share.
After the rural fun, it was time for ITV to wrap up its Potter-fest as the recent run of the family friendly/adolescent angst franchise came to an end. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (7:30pm) saw Harry finally come to blows with that Voldemort fella in an intense and impressively satisfying end to the series.
2.6 million viewers (up from Part 1‘s 2.4 million on Wednesday) tuned in to see Warner Bros milk every last drop of drama out of the magic, securing a 13% share.
Elsewhere at 9pm, Horizon celebrated its 50th anniversary with an old fashioned competition on BBC Two. An audience of 921,000 people tuned in to see would be in the running for the £10 million prize (the catch – entrants had to have some smarts about them), netting a 4% share.
Over on Channel 4, bespectacled clown Heston Blumenthal wrapped up his four part series by creating more items of food no normal person could ever digest. The grand finale of Heston’s Great British Food (9pm) included such inventions as an edible stand made out of sponge (mind blowingly impractical) and edible playing cards, signalling that humanity has finally reached its peak and netting an audience of 913,000 viewers.
Meanwhile on Channel 5, there was a documentary about trauma doctors called Trauma Doctors. It was watched by 1.3 million viewers and a 6% share, providing Channel 5’s biggest audience of the day.
The Social TV Analytics report is a daily leaderboard displaying the latest social TV analytics Twitter data from SecondSync. The table shows the top UK TV shows as they are mentioned on Twitter, which MediaTel has correlated with the BARB overnight programme ratings for those shows (only viewable to BARB subscribers).
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. Overnight data supplied by TRP are based on 15 minute slot averages. This may differ from tape checked figures, which are based on a programme’s actual start and end time.
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