The Missing’s gut-wrenching finale nets biggest audience yet
Last night’s prime time line-up saw BBC One’s highly successful eight part thriller, The Missing (9pm), draw to a close as viewers across the country prayed to the TV gods in the hope that the finale could actually deliver and finally answer the question on everyone’s lips – what happened to Olly Hughes?
For seven tense episodes The Missing has followed a desperate father whose young son disappears while on holiday in France, focusing on the initial parental shock and subsequent fruitless investigation.
Intercut the past scenes with Tony Hughes’s (James Nesbitt) desperate and futile attempts to pick up the trail eight years later and the BBC has the makings of an addictive and unsettling hit.
A vague sense of hope has propelled Tony (and an average of 5 million viewers – give or take a disastrous I’m a Celebrty… clash) through a seedy underworld of child abduction and some seriously unsettling characters, helping the show secure the 9pm slot most weeks.
After stringing viewers along for many weeks now, The Missing had the monumental task of wrapping up the bleak tale in a satisfying manner. Not only was five-year-old Olly’s fate revealed but all the sordid secrets came spilling out, leaving the characters in some dark places by the very end.
The show’s highest audience yet – 6.6 million viewers – tuned in for one last sixty-minute bout of traumatic drama, with shocking revelations from the outset. Tuesday night’s biggest 9pm audience received their earned sense of tainted satisfaction, resulting in a 29% share.
At the same time, Channel 4 offered up its own bleak view of the human experience, with a little festive help from anti-optimist writer Charlie Brooker.
Following on from two short and critically lauded series of Black Mirror, Tuesday night brought a feature-length edition of the dark anthology drama – even managing to secure the help of one Don Draper.
Black Mirror: White Christmas (9pm) saw Mad Men‘s Jon Hamm join Rafe Spall and Game of Thrones‘ Oona Chaplin for a trio of technology-infected tales over an hour and a half running time.
Unfortunately not many people got the brief – just 833,000 viewers tuned in for the near-future account of mind cloning, Google Glass getting out of hand and blocking people in real life, resulting in a 4% share.
Thankfully, there was some lighter relief over on BBC Two as man child Gareth Malone decided it was time to belt a dead horse just one more time.
Just three years after The Choir: Military Wives (9pm) graced our screens, Gareth was back to manipulate emotions and single sales in the first of two episodes. 2.1 million viewers watched as the minute maestro carefully chose his harem of belters, resulting in a 9% share.
It was back to misery at the same time on Channel 5 as its documentary unsubtly attempted to squeeze some feelings out of its viewers with the second episode of Kids’ Hospital at Christmas (9pm). 828,000 people spent their evening with the tough children at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, resulting in a 4% share and Channel 5’s biggest hit of the day.
For the six millionth time this year, ITV’s evening schedule was once again offered up to one particular family friendly franchise. Just for the hell of it, ITV decided to treat viewers once more to an adventure with Harry Potter, an event viewers are seeing with such frequency it’s as if the broadcaster is contractually obliged by Warner Bros. or something.
The fifth film in the series, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, kicked off at 7pm and saw the boy wizard and his chums form an underground army in order to defend against Voldermort’s forces and was watched by 2.9 million viewers and a 13% share.
At 8pm Holby City was watched by 4.3 million viewers on BBC One, while on BBC Two The Great British Bake Off Christmas Masterclass saw Mary and Paul show off their skills and sexual chemistry, while netting 2.8 million viewers and a 13% share.
Over on Channel 4, Noel Fitzpatrick was back to once again fuse some household pets with bits of technology in a bid to save them. The Supervet: Christmas in the Clinic (8pm) followed the exact same format as the usual show with the exception of a reception based Christmas tree and some novelty hats.
1.3 million viewers tuned in to see Fieval get a double hip replacement, Jasper get his wonky legs fixed and Pixie the cat with a bionic limb, translating to a 6% share.
Earlier at 7pm, Emmerdale (ITV) secured the number three spot with 5.9 million viewers and a 30% share. But it was EastEnders at 7:30pm on BBC One that won Tuesday’s top spot.
6.6 million viewers (a 32% share) watched as the Lucy Beale investigation led to a local IP address, while a plan was hatched to get rid of Nick Cotton once and for all.
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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