Thrilling 3rd round FA Cup game beats Midsomer repeat on ITV
In a week that brought brooding dark drama like Broadchurch and two helpings of Silent Witness, Wednesday night offered viewers the chance to enjoy some light-hearted family-friendly homicide in the familiar form of yet another Midsomer Murders (ITV, 8pm) repeat.
In preparation for the brand new seventeenth series that’s due to start airing at the end of the month, ITV sacrificed its evening schedule to the final two hour episode of the last series, which happened to be a milestone event for the show.
The 100th episode – originally broadcast in February of last year – attempted to add some credible flavours to proceedings by relocating the action to the Danish city of Copenhagen, unintentionally reminding viewers they should probably be watching a more worthy foreign drama instead.
While the cheese factor was turned down to a minimum (the series surely peaked when Martine McCutcheon was murdered by a giant round of cheddar in January 2013) a Midsomer-based biscuit mogul did get poisoned while on a business trip, forcing DCI Barnaby and Sgt Nelson to team up with a duo of female detectives that viewers may recognise from two loftier Nordic Noir offerings.
Last year 5.5 million viewers tuned in for the Danish jaunt, with last night’s repeat of the very special episode netting 3 million viewers and an 18% share.
Unfortunately for ITV there was another monumental event taking place at the same time on BBC One. Coverage of Match of the Day Live‘s grand occasion got under way at 7:30pm, with the FA Cup third-round replay kicking off at 8pm.
The thrilling game between Ipswich Town and Southampton, live from Portman Road, secured the prime time slot’s biggest audience, with the 2.5 hour coverage pulling in 3.9 million viewers and an 18% share.
Over on BBC Two, Chris Packham continued to look at Nature’s Weirdest Events at 8pm, with 1.9 million viewers and a 9% share tuning in.
Afterwards, it was the grand finale of What’s the Right Diet for You? A Horizon Special at 9pm. The large-scale experiment about diagnosing the different psychological ways in which we engage with food managed to bring in nearly the exact same audience for three consecutive nights.
1.8 million viewers tuned in to see how the 75 overweight volunteers were affected by months of personalised help and advice, netting an 8% share.
Over on Channel 4, George Clarke continued to feast on Kevin McCloud’s scraps in the latest edition of The Restoration Man at 8pm. 1.9 million viewers (a 9% share) watched as a couple attempted to restore an old Essex schoolhouse in a dream country home, despite the rising debt.
Afterwards at 9pm, there was another heartbreaking episode of 24 Hours in A&E as the never-ending parade of interesting characters kept on coming through the doors.
1.9 million viewers caught up with the latest emotionally-wringing critical emergencies, resulting in a 9% share.
At 9pm came the utterly depressing and terrifying Angry, White and Proud (Channel 4), a documentary about damaged and lost souls uniting in their aggression under a mutual banner of hate.
1.5 million viewers watched as a flurry of splinter groups joined together in Rochdale to jump on the back of recent incidents to gain local and mainstream support, netting a 10% share.
The far-right theme continued at 10pm with a repeat of Steph and Dom Meet Nigel Farage, which brought in 512,000 viewers.
On Channel 5, the interestingly titled Wedding Disaster Specials: He Left Me for My Mother…and Other Betrayals brought in 1.4 million viewers at 8pm. Featuring the first exclusive television interview with Rhodri Giggs since all that Cain and Able stuff kicked off in 2012, the TV version of Take a Break was watched by a 7% share.
Afterwards the latest scandal from Celebrity Big Brother (9pm) brought in 2.3 million viewers, a 10% share and also topped the Twitter TV charts.
Earlier in the day Emmerdale (ITV, 7pm) was Wednesday’s third most popular show with 6.3 million viewers and a 31% share. Afterwards Coronation Street took the day’s top spot with 7.4 million viewers and a 36% 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.
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