The Missing and EastEnders secure a strong night for BBC One
Tuesday night saw James Nesbitt’s mission to maintain a perma-scowl and find his lost son continue, as gruelling drama The Missing (9pm) topped off a successful evening for BBC One.
The third episode of the frantic paranoia-fuel for parents continued its harrowing tales across two time lines, with Nesbitt’s character dealing with the immediate investigation after the disappearance and as a solo broken vigilante attempting to reopen the case five years later.
Last night saw the guilt and suspicion erode the trust between the main character and his wife, played by Frances O’Connor, while the present day scenes saw the estranged partners reconcile in the small French town where their son disappeared.
You’d think the heavy emotional trauma etched in the characters’ faces and the soulless washed-out colours of the present day scenes would be too much for Tuesday night audiences but The Missing has performed solidly each week.
Most impressive of all, the drama has barely lost a viewer since its striking début two weeks ago. Last night 5.8 million viewers tuned in to see the broken couple reunited as a new lead reopened the investigations, netting a decent 37% share.
Beforehand, the drama wasn’t quite as trying, as Holby City also secured the biggest share in the 8pm slot for BBC One. 4.7 million viewers watched as an elderly soldier helped surgeon Serena reconnect with her dementia-afflicted mother, netting a 22% share.
But it was EastEnders at 7:30pm on BBC One that was the biggest hit of the day, with the latest drama from Albert Square securing a 34% share. Tuesday night saw Kat join Stacey for a drink in that other bar in London’s East End, The Albert, in an effort to get over the stigma of her burns.
7.1 million viewers tuned in to see the characters drink in a bar that is supposedly meant to help bring the soap in line with the actual non-fictional East End of Shoreditch, easily nabbing the number one spot.
ITV’s prime time offering came in the shape of one of those schedule-filling countdown list shows littered with talking heads and numerous clips to keep viewers entertained. And it wasn’t even a bank holiday!
The Nation’s Favourite Queen Song (9pm) featured punchy sound bites from the likes of Mel C and Al Murray and basically served to promote the band’s latest tour. The hour and a half of nostalgic rock secured 2.7 million viewers, with a 13% share presumably watching Bohemian Rhapsody take the number one spot.
Beforehand, Hotel in the Clouds (ITV, 8pm) – the latest advertorial dressed up as a kooky workplace documentary – showed the staff of The Shard’s Shangri-La Hotel stress out in the three month build up to its opening, bringing in 2.6 million viewers and a 12% share.
The broadcaster’s solo soap offering, Emmerdale (7pm), saw schoolgirl Belle Dingle’s social struggles continue (murdering your best friend never ends well for teenagers), securing 6 million viewers and a 30% share.
BBC Two continued the spirit of remembrance at 9pm, with Fergal Keane’s look at the boy-soldiers who served during the First World War. Teenage Tommies uncovered some very tragic tales of the 250,000 under 18s who served abroad, netting 1 million viewers and a 5% share.
Beforehand the never-ending competition of MasterChef: The Professionals (BBC Two, 8pm) pulled in its usual audience of 2.6 million viewers and a 12% share.
Over on Channel 4, the convoluted nonsense of You Can’t Get the Staff (9pm) trundled on, with more self-styled toffs rolling their eyes to heaven in contrived exacerbation.
975,000 viewers (a 5% share) watched as Lady Toffington stressed about finding new help before the polo season kicked off, representing a -48% fall from the opening episode.
Perhaps if the privileged folk had looked to an earlier Channel 4 programme then all their staff problems would have been easily solved at a relatively good price.
Beforehand, at 8pm, was Obsessive Compulsive Cleaners – the show about people that polish and sanitise for kicks – which brought in 1.4 million and a 6% share.
Elsewhere, BBC Four offered up a chance for some mid-week trauma at 9pm with the harrowing Blackfish, a documentary about a very naughty killer whale holed up in SeaWorld, netting an audience of 367,000.
Later on BBC Two, 502,000 viewers tuned in to Newsnight (10:30pm) to see the Dapper Laughs PR machine implode with creator Daniel O’Reilly killing off the popular Vine (and briefly ITV2) star after a brutal grilling from host Emily Maitlis.
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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