Carry on abroad sees The Apprentice continue to shine for BBC One
Wednesday night saw the success of BBC One’s eleventh series of The Apprentice (9pm) continue as the carnival of nonsense upped sticks and went all continental, bringing the entire farce to French shores just for the hell for it.
Beaming down from a giant video screen in tunnels beneath Dover Castle (for no discernible reason whatsoever), His Honoured Overlord of House Sugar tasked the 16 remaining comedy sketches with finding the most random of items at home and abroad, with bonus points being offered to the candidate who produces the most cringe-inducing behaviour.
Last week gave eager viewers two episodes of the world’s longest (and mostly pointless) job interview, with Wednesday’s début securing a solid 6.4 million viewers, falling to 5.5 million for the second consecutive night.
Yesterday’s sixty minute offering of desperate behaviour saw the genders remain divided over two teams with the men making some progrès in their tat-finding quest, while the ladies’ sense of sisterhood once again descending into anarchy as soon as the starting pistol was fired.
6.1 million viewers tuned in for the second week in a row to see the female team devour each other, with the reality show stars elite group of professional human beings netting a 28% share and securing the 9pm slot for BBC One.
Over on ITV, there was another straggling chancer bagging free trips abroad with Alexander Armstrong in the Land of the Midnight Sun (9pm) seeing the comedian continuing the 8,000 mile winter journey across the Arctic Circle.
2.3 million viewers tuned in to see Armstrong enjoy his free jaunt, wrestle a lady Viking, drink some Martinis in the cold and secure an 11% share for the broadcaster.
[advert position=”left”]On Channel 4, Kevin McCloud was busy sneering as a proposed build on the South Downs whose word cloud would feature ‘rust’ and ‘monstrosity’ prominently. The latest gawp at the Grand Designs‘ (9pm) newest power couple and the building birthed by their ego secured 1.7 million viewers and an 8% share.
At the same time, Channel 5’s prime time slice of grim came in the form of Can’t Pay? We’ll Take It Away (9pm), with 1.2 million people and a 5% share tuning in to see struggling families getting their goods removed.
On BBC Two, the fourth instalment of art appreciation show The Face of Britain by Simon Schama (9pm) tackled the complex and tricky notion of love, securing 727,000 viewers and a 3% share in the process.
At 9pm, ITV2 interrupted its Back to the Future marathon for an hour and a half with Keith Lemon’s Back T’Future Tribute, in which the comedian went on a Hill Valley odyssey, visiting locations and interviewing some of the cast.
The cheeky celebration of the seminal franchise secured an audience of 919,000 viewers and a 5% share.
After prizing away last Wednesday’s number one spot from Sir Alan’s death grip, last night saw the second part of DIY SOS: Homes for Veterans (8pm) fail to repeat the trick. Mostly thanks to a prolonged appearance by Prince William and Prince Harry’s beard, last week’s exercise in goodwill brought in a surprising 7 million viewers to BBC One.
Thanks to a fairly limited royal appearance last night, the second part secured 5.7 million viewers for the emotional conclusion, resulting in a 27% share.
Over on BBC Two, the second half of Building Cars Live (8pm) brought in 1.4 million viewers, while ITV’s All Star Mr & Mrs (8pm) was watched by 2.7 million viewers.
But, really, the big news of the day came in the form of crazy teen soap Hollyoaks as the long-running show finally revealed the identity of the Gloved Hand Killer as part of its highly publicised 20th anniversary, a mystery that has kept a very tiny fraction of the TV viewing nation gripped for eight months.
A whopping 951,000 viewers tuned into Channel 4 at 6:30pm for the build up to the big reveal, with 717,000 viewers (a 4% share) tuning into E4 straight afterwards at 7pm for the grand unmasking.
Elsewhere, in the realms of mainstream TV, Emmerdale bagged 6 million viewers and a 31% share at 7pm on ITV, followed afterwards with a trip to Coronation Street at 7:30pm.
The latest corpse-hiding fun from Weatherfield bagged the day’s number one spot with 6.8 million viewers and a 33% 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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