Stand Up To Cancer peaks with 3.3m for Celebrity Gogglebox
Channel 4’s Friday evening schedule was dominated by an entire night of the usual awkward celebrity banter and a righteous call to arms as the broadcaster and a host of famous faces prepared to Stand Up To Cancer (7pm).
1.2 million viewers (a 6% share) tuned in for half an hour of strained chemistry as Davina McCall, Dr Christian and Alan Carr set the tone for the evening as they desperately tried to fill half an hour of TV.
Next up was the skit nobody ever asked for as charisma vacuum Taylor Swift and Jamie Oliver (7:30pm) finally joined forces to make the nation laugh. 1.4 million viewers tuned in, reminding themselves it was all for a good cause and nabbing a 7% share.
Stretching the next ace up its sleeve to an entire hour, 8pm saw that hilarious fella from Gadget Man, Richard Ayoade, star in Andy Murray in Andy Murray: The Movie (8pm). The skit saw Ayoade – also an award winning director when not making substandard shows about boys’ toys – attempt to cast stars in his sporting biopic.
1.8 million viewers tuned in to see Murray try and convince the world he has a sense of humour, resulting in an 8% share.
Many would have thought basing an entire night’s charity drive around a show which makes the live audience watch other people watching TV would be a lacklustre idea, but the ploy looks like it paid off.
Gogglebox: Celebrity Special (9pm), featuring Kate Moss, Noel Gallagher and Naomi Campbell, all cosied up on a sofa like real humans, and pulled in an audience of 3.3 million viewers and a 15% share and was Channel 4’s biggest hit of the night.
Afterwards, More Exclusive Gogglebox (10pm), which featured little Gogglebox brought in 2.1 million viewers, with Derren Brown and Martin Freeman‘s antics at 11pm netting 1.3 million.
Elsewhere the soaps ruled the roost with a double helping of Coronation Street (ITV) securing the day’s top two spots with the 7:30pm and 8:30pm showings pulling in just over 7 million viewers and 6.5 million viewers, respectively.
Saturday evening brought another swarm of light entertainment as those happy people on BBC One sharpened up the sequins, pasted on the tooth whitener and danced for their lives in the latest episode of Strictly Come Dancing (6:30pm).
The fifth episode of the twelfth series became Saturday’s biggest hit, with a little over 9 million viewers tuning in for the two hour event, netting a whopping 43% share.
Airing half an hour before Strictly wrapped up was The X Factor (8pm) over on ITV, with the singing competition’s audience jumping up once the rival finished at 8:30pm. An audience of 7.4 million viewers tuned in to see the four judges procrastinate for another two hours, bagging a 33% share in the process.
The usual parade of Saturday mainstays made up the rest of the day’s top hits, with Clara Oswald stepping into the Doctor’s shoes at 8:30pm on BBC One. The ninth episode of Doctor Who‘s current run saw Peter Capaldi’s twelfth doctor trapped inside a shrinking TARDIS while his assistant battled two-dimensional aliens.
4.5 million viewers and a 20% share tuned in for the latest time travelling fun, with an episode of Casualty (BBC One) securing 3.8 million viewers at 9:10pm.
Results shows made up two of Sunday’s biggest hits with 40 minutes of Strictly Come Dancing (BBC One, 7:15pm) proving to be the weekend’s greatest hit with 9.1 million viewers and a 39% share.
Straight afterwards The X Factor Results (ITV, 8pm) proved to be another excuse to show Saturday’s performances over and over again, with 8.3 million viewers and a 34% share tuning in to see some dreams being destroyed.
BBC One’s Sunday staples once again performed well with Countryfile (6:15pm) securing over 6 million viewers and a 31% share, followed by Antiques Roadshow at 8pm with 5.4 million viewers and a 22% share.
Military drama Our Girl was watched by 3.7 million at 9pm on BBC One, while ITV’s widely successful Downton Abbey netted 7.5 million viewers and a 31% 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. 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.
To get all the latest MediaTel Newsline updates follow us on Twitter.