Glum buzzkill DCI Banks falls to 3.7m on ITV
Single-handedly helping perpetuate the image of an eternally grim North, last night saw the endlessly morose DCI Banks (9pm) return to ITV for the second instalment of the fourth series, although recently it looks like the put-upon detective has a good reason to frown.
Joining the glut of hard-edged and flawed sleuths to grace TV screens, the series debuted to an overnight audience of 5.5 million viewers back in September 2010 and provided a bleak but engaging view of the hardships of keeping the law in sunny Leeds.
Last week saw Stephen Tompkinson’s Alan Banks returned after a twelve month absence from our screens, bringing prime time viewers the jolly tale of a people trafficking, forced prostitution and women being burned alive.
The first series not to be based on Peter Robinson’s series of novels, last week’s opening episode witnessed a year on year fall of -1.7 million viewers, giving the every-man detective a definitive reason to furrow his brow and to stare sombrely into the distance.
3.7 million viewers tuned in last night to uncover the tale of two tragic Estonian sisters, giving the northern drama an 18% share. It wasn’t all bad news though, as the conclusion of the opening case narrowly beat BBC One’s 9pm offering.
While in previous weeks The People’s Strictly for Comic Relief (BBC one, 9pm) could have just pipped ITV’s bleak drama to finishing line, last night’s slice of charity-based light entertainment saw a small but important fall in viewers.
3.4 million viewers tuned in for the fourth and final edition of the show that sees normal everyday folks salsa with their sequinned heroes, resulting in a 16% share.
At the same time, BBC Two descended into decidedly bleaker territory with This World: Secrets of Mexico’s Drug War, a look at the US authorities’ questionable relationship with the Sinaloa cartel, a multibillion-dollar criminal organisation.
884,000 viewers tuned in to be reminded that the bloody war on drugs continues to look like a losing battle, netting a 2% for the channel.
After unceremoniously winning over the 9pm slot just one day previously, the second episode of MasterChef‘s latest run (the 11th, 22nd or 31st series, depending on who you ask) was bumped back down to the slightly less glorious time of 7:30pm on BBC One.
On Channel 4, it was time for some real-life trauma on the latest episode of 24 Hours in A&E (9pm) as a never ending parade of guest stars were rolled into the resus hub of London’s St. George’s Hospital. 1.8 million viewers and a 9% share – Channel 4’s biggest hit of the day – tuned in for the latest cocktail of blood and tears.
Earlier in soap land, Carly Hope made a surprise return to Emmerdale at 7pm on ITV, albeit with a brand new head. Over 6 million viewers tuned in to see father Bob’s reaction, netting a 32% share.
Straight up afterwards, Coronation Street pulled in Wednesday’s biggest audience despite continuing to trudge through another silly and universally despised storyline. Over 7 million viewers watched as Gail Potter Tilsley Platt Hillman McIntyre’s latest wedding to Les Dennis got off to an expectedly dicey start, resulting in a 33% share.
In a blow for BBC One, newly resurgent soap EastEnders (8:30pm) took a surprise hit yesterday and only managed to bag fifth place. An unusually low audience of 5.4 million viewers tuned in, despite the birthday soap constantly taking the top spot in recent weeks.
Worse still, there seemed to be no obvious distraction to excuse the exodus of the usually loyal fan base with just a 24% share tuning in to see Kat Moon face the latest deluge of unfortunate issues life throws at her.
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.