Corrie tops Monday as Twitter reacts to Kirkbride’s death
Monday night saw Coronation Street (ITV) kick off a fresh week of big budget drama with another one of those much-hyped large-scale accidents that seems to befall the long-suffering residents of Weatherfield every now and again.
The first episode of ITV’s long-running top performer at 7:30pm saw a group of colleagues from the factory make the fatal error of leaving the safety of the Street behind for one night only.
Unsurprisingly, venturing out into the dangerous real world in a sinister-looking minibus ended in unmitigated disaster.
By the end of the first episode, things had all gone a little bit Hollyoaks for the uncharacteristically high-spirited co-workers as driver Steve McDonald ended up sending the knicker bus careering off the Moors after a run-in with boy racers.
Bringing in the biggest audience in nearly a year, 8.3 million viewers tuned in to see which characters were lucky enough to count themselves as walking wounded, resulting in solid 38% share.
Returning an hour later at 8:30pm, the second episode of Coronation Street secured the day’s second biggest audience.
An audience share of 33% watched as forever-tormented scriptwriters’ whipping-girl, Carla (of course), was left in a seriously precarious situation as the van rested on the edge of a precipice, leaving fans with an actual cliff-hanger to sink their teeth into.
In total, just over 8 million viewers watched as Carla’s life was left in Tracy Barlow’s hands, which is never a good place to be.
It wasn’t long afterwards that the tragic news broke of actress Anne Kirkbride’s passing. The death of the legend that was Deirdre Barlow saw the soap generating plenty of activity on Twitter, with the second episode seeing a 295% increase on the first.
Earlier in the day, the drama was slightly more procedural on Emmerdale (ITV, 7pm) with the beginning of Charity’s trial securing 6.8 million viewers and a 33% share.
Over on BBC One, EastEnders (8pm) was still riding high off a very successful 2014, easily bringing in the channel’s biggest audience of the day.
7.7 million viewers watched as the Carter children finally probed their parents’ bizarre behaviour over Christmas (even given the soap’s set standards, Danny Dyer went apocalyptic on the Queen Vic’s furnishings). The episode, which concluded with Linda Carter finally reporting her rape to the police, brought in a 33% audience share.
Things weren’t much brighter in the 9pm slot as that happy tight-knit community of Broadchurch (ITV) gave the residents of Emmerdale a run for their money in the communal dysfunctional stakes.
Unfortunately last night represented the second consecutive fall in viewers, which wouldn’t be such bad news if the second series wasn’t just three episodes in.
After opening up with 7.3 million viewers two weeks ago, just 5.2 million viewers tuned in for the latest developments in child killer Joe Miller’s trial (oh, and all that Sandbrook business), resulting in a 21% share.
Suffering from eroding ratings – which would be fine if this wasn’t the most heavily marketed TV event of the year – the writer has failed to recapture the compelling whodunit scenario from the first series, instead offering up a draining post-mortem of the broken characters.
On BBC One, the forensically-gifted folk of Silent Witness (9pm) were adding to the grim-themed Monday evening, offering up another two part adventure in child abuse and neglect.
5.9 million viewers tuned in for the first half of the latest case, with the discovery of a suspected paedophile’s body in a playground kicking off yesterday’s fun with a 24% share.
It was the first instalment of Winterwatch (9pm) over on BBC Two, with scenes of Chris Packham and Michaela Strachan freezing in a field somewhere still bringing in more warmth than the other shows combined. The first of four episodes secured 1.7 million viewers and a 7% share.
At the same time Channel 4 offered up another touching episode of The Undateables (9pm), which netted 1.5 million viewers and a 6% share, while the unlovables on Celebrity Big Brother (9pm) helped Channel 5 top the Twitter chart.
2.1 million viewers tuned in for the latest desperate attention seeking measures from the mentally ill and chemically dependent, securing a 9% 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.