Eccentric moneyed doc All Change at Longleat wraps up with 2.7m
After three weeks of grand old school opulence, plenty of awkward family relations and a lot of staff, last night brought a close to the short-lived but effective real-life drama of All Change at Longleat (9pm).
Focusing on the ‘eccentric’ Lord Bath, his son-and-heir Ceawlin and his wife, actress/TV chef/ daughter of a Nigerian oil tycoon, Emma, the main star of the show was Longleat, the English country estate on everyone’s minds.
Last night’s adventures in being awfully well connected saw Emma give birth to the next future troubled heir as well as meeting the woman tasked with raising her son, while barmy Lord Bath continued to be locked away in his tower while son Ceawlin got wankered at a formal banquet.
The bizarre documentary opened up strongly with 2.8 million viewers and fell to 2.1 million for the second week. Yesterday’s misjudged exercise in brand PR finale secured 2.7 million viewers and a 12% share for BBC One.
All the stately drama wasn’t enough to wrestle the 9pm slot from Doc Martin‘s (9pm) oversized and overpowering hands as the latest episode not only secured the prime time slot for ITV but also managed to bring in the biggest series seven audience so far.
After opening with 5.9 million viewers at the start of the month, the following two episodes fell slightly with last night’s offering of small town pomp seeing a small resurgence.
6.1 million viewers tuned in to see the cantankerous Doctor and understandably estranged wife attempt to save their marriage with a bit of strained therapy, with the hilarious set up netting a 29% share.
Meanwhile on Autopsy: The Last Hours of… (9pm) Channel 5 once again sifted through the blood, sweat, tears and toxicology report to paint viewers a very vivid picture of their favourite dead celebrity’s corpse, all in the name of public interest of course.
This week’s exercise in extremely bad taste focused on the last few hours of Amy Winehouse’s life by spending 60 minutes treating fans to painful crack-smoking re-enactments, plenty of opinion from highly suspicious fellow drug buddies and more information than you even thought you’d know about the tragic singer’s inner workings.
An audience of 1.1 million viewers spent their Monday night with professional ghoul Dr Jason Payne-James as he ‘re-examined’ official evidence and tattle, resulting in a 5% share.
At the same time, BBC Two was looking at the complete opposite side of the life spectrum in the third and final part of Countdown to Life: The Extraordinary Making of You(9pm).
1.1 million viewers watched as presenter Michael Mosley unlocked the freaky secrets of the third trimester, supported by impressive alien inside-the-womb visuals and a 5% share.
Over on Channel 4, was the fifth episode of The Catch (9pm), the show that lets viewers sit back in awe at proper work. 887,000 viewers and a 4% share watched as a middle aged man joined the crew of the Govenek, keeping fishing fans entertained if nothing else.
Earlier at 8pm, the latest Britain As Seen on ITV offered up some clips of lovely ladies throughout the years, as documented by ITV’s roving cameras and netted 2.7 million viewers and a 13% share.
Channel 4, meanwhile, offered up an hour of fun, conversational nutrition programming with Jamie’s Super Food (8pm) and Food Unwrapped (8:30pm) bringing in 1.3 million viewers (a 6% share) and 1.7 million viewers (a 7% share), respectively.
At 7pm, the latest antics from Emmerdale (ITV) brought in 6.1 million viewers and a 33% share while double Coronation Street (ITV) scored Monday’s top two spots.
[advert position=”left”]At 7:30pm 7.4 million viewers (a 36% share) tuned in to see Sally Webster feel sorry for herself, falling to 6.8 million viewers and a 30% share at 8:30pm.
But it was Max Branning’s speedy behaviour on EastEnders (BBC One, 8pm) that helped the drama be the top soap in TV Twitter chart as the East End Lothario simply decided to run out of court when found guilty of Lucy Beale’s murder.
An audience of 6.5 million viewers watched in shock as Max decided to carve out his own fate, netting a 30% 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.