BBC Two’s romantic trans comedy Boy Meets Girl pulls in 1.5m
Thursday night’s TV schedule saw BBC Two jam pack in not one, but two new comedy shows that attempted to bring something a little different to viewers’ screens.
Hot on the heels of Monday’s feature-length Danny and the Human Zoo (BBC One) – Lenny Henry’s semi-autobiographical account of his formative years – last night saw comedian and writer Danny Baker delve into his own past to bring us Cradle to Grave (BBC Two, 9pm).
The eight-part half-hour sitcom invited viewers to the South London of yesteryear as the audience was introduced to the second 1970s teenager called Danny to début on their screen in just one week.
This particular incarnation had to deal with the trials and tribulations conjured by his dodgy but well-meaning cockney dad, played with zest by Peter Kaye.
An audience of 2.1 million viewers spent half an hour in the fictionalised 1974 as young Danny, played by relative newcomer Laurie Kynaston, got a taste of the glittering West End for the very first time.
The first episode of the family sitcom netted a 10% share and secured BBC Two’s biggest audience of the day.
Afterwards, Boy Meets Girl (BBC Two, 9:30pm) attempted to add a little something extra to the tired genre of romantic comedy by throwing a transwoman into the mix.
The straight-forwardly depiction of a not very straight-forward situation focused on Leo (Harry Hepple) as he meets and falls head over heels for Judy (Rebecca Root), an older woman navigating other people’s perceptions of gender identity.
An audience of 1.5 million viewers tuned in for the delicate and well-handled show, which was refreshingly more comfort blanket than ground breaking and rounded off BBC Two’s hour of new comedy with an 8% share.
Over on BBC One, Jerry Hall and her wild and transformative trans-Atlantic twang was, in fact, on an Atlantic-hopping mission to weed out her Oldham and Texan roots in the latest Who Do You Think You Are? (BBC One, 9pm).
The fourth episode of the 12th series saw the model/actress hybrid gush and well-up in all the right places and netted 3.8 million viewers, slightly down from the series opening which attracted 4.1 million.
A 19% audience share saw the emotional ancestry show secure the 9pm slot for BBC One.
On ITV, a national treasure continued his latest paid-for odyssey in the second Stephen Fry in Central America which saw the actor, writer and comedian venture though Belize to Guatemala, picking up 1.8 million viewers and a 9% share, along the way.
Channel 4’s 9pm offering ranked a little lower as an impassioned food preparer launched his latest crusade. Jamie’s Sugar Rush brought viewers a very po-faced and serious celebrity chef as he banged on about the dangers of ingesting too much bad stuff, resulting in 1.2 million viewers, a 6% share and the most Twitter mentions of the day.
On Channel 5, the latest depressing happening from Celebrity Big Brother (9pm) netted 1.3 million viewers and a 7% share.
Earlier at 8pm, Eat Well for Less? was watched by 3.9 million on BBC One, while World’s Weirdest Events (8pm) netted 1.7 million viewers on BBC Two.
ITV’s celebrity cheesefest Flockstars (8pm) secured 1.8 million viewers while the latest grade A bantz from Kirsty and Phil on Location, Location, Location was witnessed by 1.6 million souls.
Even earlier an hour-long Emmerdale (7pm) bagged the day’s second place with 5.6 million viewers and a 28% share tuning in for the charming countryside adventure.
Unfortunately the double helping of village life once again overshadowed EastEnders (7:30pm) with disastrous results for BBC One. Just 4.5 million viewers tuned in to see the ever-troubled Carter family reveal Aunt Babe’s dark secrets in a caravan in Ramsgate.
But it was the latest drama from Coronation Street (ITV, 8pm) that took in the biggest audience as 6 million viewers watched as Fiz and Tyrone dealt with some worrying family news, netting a 29% 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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