Brucie bows out as Strictly’s return defeats The X Factor
For the second week in a row, the newly generated Doctor Who took on the universe’s most formidable force and lost as the unbeatable thrust of The X Factor once again dominated weekend viewing.
While the family-friendly show did get defeated, the third adventure for the twelfth doctor brought in Saturday’s second biggest audience at 7:30pm on BBC One. This weekend’s portion of time travelling hokum saw Peter Capaldi’s Doctor do his thing in medieval times, hanging out with Robin Hood and searching widely for a catch phrase.
5.2 million viewers joined in on the kiddy-catering entertainment, securing a 25% share.
From 8pm on ITV there was the desperate pageantry of The X Factor as Simon, Proper Scary Spice, Louis and Cheryl what’s-her-name bestowed their judgement on the deranged and the mentally unwell.
Saturday’s one hour and 20 minute slice of anxious bleating resulted in the day’s biggest hit with 8.3 million viewers and a 39% share.
The rest of the day’s big performers mostly belonged to BBC One, with Casualty coaxing in 3.9 million viewers and a 19% share at 9:10pm, while earlier on in the day Tumble (6pm) and The National Lottery: In It to Win It (8:15pm) netted a little over 3 million viewers each.
Saturday evening also saw ITV perform reasonably well with The Chase: Celebrity Special bagging 4.2 million viewers at 7pm, while the late night thrill of Through the Keyhole at 9:15pm was watched by 3.5 million viewers.
Sunday brought the dawn of yet another long-running gaudy reality show as Sir Bruce Forsyth stopped by the inauguration of Strictly Come Dancing (BBC One, 8pm) to mark his passing-of-the-torch to co-hosts Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly.
The first taste of the hit show’s twelfth series introduced the many new faces following their dreams by hoping to up their public profile, ensuring that this time next year they’d definitely be in the running for Celebrity Big Brother.
More interestingly though, the gentleman’s agreement between ITV and BBC One seems to have come to an end as the taster show clashed directly with the weekend’s second offering of auditioning fun on The X Factor (ITV, 8pm).
In the end, the hazardous tactics paid off for BBC One as Strictly Come Dancing – The Launch Show was watched by the weekend’s biggest audience, with 8.4 million viewers and a 34% share tuning in to wave goodbye to Brucie.
At the same time, a little under 7 million viewers were watching ITV for a second helping of exactly the same thing they got the night before, resulting in a 28% share. Although this doesn’t bode too well for Cowell’s voice contest, The X Factor has plenty of time to build momentum before Strictly returns properly in a few weeks.
Earlier, Countryfile (BBC One) officially completed the Sunday schedule at 7pm, with 4.7 million viewers tuning in to see Charlotte Smith sweat over the thoughts of antibiotic-resistant farm animals, resulting in a 23% share.
Over on ITV, it was time for a rare Sunday trip to Weatherfield as the residents of Coronation Street (7pm) proved that the drama doesn’t stop just because it’s a weekend. 5.9 million viewers tuned in to join the slowest soap characters ever created as the penny continued to drop in slow motion for Carla.
The knicker factory owner’s slow burning suspicions about Tina’s death brought in a 29% share.
Over on BBC One, the theme of northerners’ troubles continued with penultimate episode of The Village at 9pm. The historic social drama was the biggest show in the 9pm slot, with 4.2 million viewers and a 20% share.
Meanwhile, it was time for the return of the original real-life historical detective, Jack Whicher. After a little break, Paddy Considine was back for a third series of mini-movies, with last night’s case seeing the stoic copper’s heart warm up a little.
The Suspicions of Mr Whicher: Beyond the Pale (9pm) brought in 2.4 million viewers and a 13% share for ITV.
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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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