Midwife, Last Tango & Countryfile secures Sunday for BBC One
Yesterday saw the BBC score the top eight shows of the day with a mixture of popular drama and long-running Sunday scheduling stables.
BBC One kicked off a popular evening of comfort telly with sixty minutes of rural escapism in Countryfile at 7pm. Yesterday’s episode (the 1,301st) saw the gang hang out in West Yorkshire, meeting the usual array of farmers and eccentric locals and, of course, the obligatory trip to the Moors.
The day’s second biggest audience tuned in for the latest agricultural banter, resulting in a total of 7.6 million viewers and a 34% share.
There was a slight change of pace at 8pm as cosy period drama Call the Midwife (BBC One) decided to deal with some issues, as former Coronation Street star Richard Fleeshman was caught in a compromising position in the gents’ toilets.
Amongst all the naughty going ons, the midwives also got themselves involved in some messy action of their own, bringing in the weekend’s biggest audience. 8.9 million viewers tuned in to see an Irish mother single handedly help spurn on the overpopulated East End of London, bringing in a 34% share.
Afterwards, Last Tango in Halifax (BBC One, 9pm) kept the drama going with the final episode of the traumatic third series. 6.6 million viewers watched as the very modern family kept on growing, with another wedding providing some full-on histrionics. An audience share of 27% watched as late-in-life lovers, Alan and Celia, watched as their respective daughters grew closer.
At 7pm on BBC Two offered a second chance to catch up with the thrilling repeat of The Motorway: Life in the Fast Lane, which netted 1.3 million viewers and a 6% share.
At 8pm, there was contrived dialogue in the 22nd series of Top Gear (BBC Two) as the three stooges came up with some random excuses to rally cars around Australia’s Northern Territory. 5.3 million viewers and a 20% share decided to watch.
At 9pm, Dragon’s Den (BBC Two) saw another flood of hopeful business moguls deliver the pitch from hell, with the same old shtick securing 2.5 million viewers and a 10% share.
At 10pm, the Coen brothers delivered a remake of John Wayne’s 1969 Oscar-winning film True Grit, with a little help from Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon. 1.1 million joined the dark odyssey through America’s Wild West, netting an 8% share.
A little earlier, ITV reached the nadir of oxygen-deprived disposable light entertainment with another instalment of Get Your Act Together (7pm). So pointless is the show that even presenter Stephen Mulhern, him of the sociopathic perma-smile, looked embarrassed. 1.9 million viewers and an 8% share tuned in for the varierty show horrow.
Afterwards, All Star Family Fortunes (ITV, 8pm) saw the audience grow to a little over 2.2 million and an 8% share.
At 9pm sad old Harry Selfridge returned to our screens for the second episode of the third series as the retail magnet busied himself with some charity work to distract from all that death and gambling. 3.1 million viewers watched as Mr Selfridge‘s money problems increased, resulting in a 13% share.
On Channel 4, the triple whammy reality line-up of The Jump (7pm), The Hotel (8pm) and Our Guy in India (9pm) secured 2.6 million, 1.2 million and 1.9 million viewers, respectively.
Later at 10:30pm, 665,000 viewers tuned in for The Super Bowl: American Football Live, resulting in a 10% 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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