BBC One secures New Year’s Day with EastEnders and Mrs Brown
BBC One kicked off the New Year in style, securing eight of the day’s top ten spots with a successful mixture, including the return of a potty-mouthed seasonal favourite, the usual festive glumness from the broadcaster’s flagship soap and the grand finale of a much loved and short-lived light comedy show.
The evenings big offerings kicked off after the news at 6:30pm with one of the more original programmes on offer, as Dustin Hoffman and Judi Dench came together in an explosion of Richard Curtis-adapted sentimentality.
Roald Dahl’s Esio Trot (BBC One), based on the author’s 1990 novel about a retired bachelor’s unrequited love for his neighbour, featured an hour and a half running time and managed to attract a surprisingly impressive cast.
6.5 million viewers watched as Hoffman’s terminally shy Mr Hoppy attempted to woo the crotchety Mrs Silver, resulting in a schmaltz-fest designed to melt the coldest of hearts and a 27% share.
Straight up afterwards was the very final episode of slapstick silliness as Miranda (8pm) decided to put her highly successful and divisive sitcom out to pasture after three series of falling over and bumping into things.
7.3 million viewers watched the half an hour show as the joke shop owner made one final stab at happiness, resulting in a 28% share.
At the suspiciously late time of 8:30pm, it was time to catch up with the cheerful souls on EastEnders (BBC One) after a grimmer-than-usual Christmas period.
Last night’s hour-long special was mercifully Danny Dyer free (he properly deserves a little break from crying and smashing) but instead focused on the marital union of one bad egg to another.
New Years Day’s biggest audience watched as child snatcher Ronnie Mitchell got hitched to general fraudster Charlie Cotton right before one of those routine unforeseeable tragedies ruined their day.
Holding a wedding in Albert Square is already testing faith – having a Walford wedding on New Year’s day almost guarantees a deathly health and safety issue of some kind. 8.5 million viewers watched as a premature birth, an exploding car and the unravelling of the Lucy Beale murder all clashed together for some solid rating fun.
A 32% audience share watched as the actors turned up the snotty mascara-drenched waterworks as a character’s life hung in the balance, walking away with the day’s top spot.
After taking first place on Christmas Day, Brendan O’Carroll and his multi-talented Mrs Brown’s Boys (BBC One, 9:35pm) troupe were back for another attempt at glory for the second festive special. After securing 7.6 million viewers on last week, last night’s slice of ‘old school’ (i.e. crap) smutty comedy saw the contrived North Dublin matriarch actually do one better despite not taking the number one spot.
Last night, 7.9 million viewers tuned in to see Agnes fight off some New Year’s burglars although this wasn’t enough to defeat EastEnders. The last Mrs Brown’s Boys for at least twelve months secured a 32% share for BBC One.
Over on ITV, an whole hour of the channel’s very own soap didn’t have quite the impact of the E20 automobile accident, with Emmerdale (7:30pm) managing to bring in 5.6 million viewers and a 22% share.
Afterwards, the 11th series of Birds of a Feather (ITV, 8:30pm) continued as devastated fans got used to a Matt Willis-free universe, with newcomer Samuel James replacing him in the pivotal role of Tracey’s son Garth.
Just 3.5 million viewers watched as Sharon was mistaken for some kind of genius, no doubt leading to hilarity and a 13% share.
ITV’s big New Year’s contribution came in the bat-shaped form of Christian Bale’s The Dark Knight (9pm), with the second part of director Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy. An average audience of 2.6 million viewers tuned in to see Heath Ledger’s final role as The Joker, securing a 13% share for the broadcaster.
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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