Buzz-worthy doc The Murder Detectives fails to make a splash
Monday night saw Channel 4 launch a brand new documentary of a very different kind to its now-standard fly-on-the-wall approach, this time weaving together a tale of real-life crime solving in The Murder Detectives (9pm).
Last night’s opener introduced viewers to the tragic murder of a 19-year-old man from Bristol who died as a result of multiple stab wounds, presenting the 18 months of footage shot with Avon and Somerset’s Major Crime Investigation Team in a slightly dramatized way.
Despite the opportunity to delve into the more sensationalist side of things, The Murder Detectives instead details the harrowing ramifications of Nicholas Robinson’s seemingly senseless murder.
The three part documentary is clearly hoping to ape the same obsessive word-of-mouth success experienced by 2014’s Serial (a podcast series that followed one real life murder, gaining a huge international following and eventually awarded with a Peabody) although last night’s instalment got off to a muted start.
1.2 million viewers tuned in to see two separate families struggling to deal with different kinds of grief as local sleuths attempted to piece together the murder, resulting in a 5% share but the buzz-worthy show surprisingly failed to make the top ten most tweeted about shows of the day.
It remains to be seen if the gripping show reaches its potential popularity during its short run.
Over on BBC One, Dara ÓBriain and his team of trusty and highly enthused boffins were back to explore Tomorrow’s Food (9pm), just like Tomorrow’s World of yesteryear but featuring scenes of crappy robot shopping trolleys instead of crappy CD players.
2.3 million viewers tuned in for the second of three instalments, with last night’s feature about our major future food source, crickets, helping secure a 10% share.
Speaking of popping a bug’s head between the teeth, ITV’s I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! (8:30pm) once again brought in the day’s biggest audience for the commercial broadcaster.
An audience of 8.3 million viewers tuned in to see professional ghost hunter Yvette Fielding survive a haunting from a white-haired jungle spectre after being evicted from the camp.
An impressive audience share of 36% tuned in to see the palatable relief exhuming from the freed woman, helping the show top the TV Twitter chart.
BBC Two had the penultimate episode of love-gone-super-wrong thriller London Spy (9pm). 1.4 million viewers watched as Ben Whishaw’s Danny continued to hunt for the truth, resulting in a 6% share.
On Channel 5 there was Dino Autopsy: T-Rex (9pm), performed in an entertainingly cartoonish approach featuring relatively amateur actors pretending to be excited boffin types sawing into a giant rubber corpse.
Among all the blood and never ending amount of internal organs flopping to the floor, there was a slightly educational factor to proceedings (giving the whole exercise some vague point), helping to bring in 222,000 viewers and a 1% share.
At 8pm Channel 4 had The World’s Most Famous Train, not an expose on toddler-magnet Thomas but a look at the Orient Express, which pulled in 1.7 million viewers and an 8% share.
At 8:30pm Simply Nigella (BBC Two) whipped up a few more random dishes and secured 2 million viewers (a 9% share) while The Martin Lewis Money Show (ITV) whipped up some tasty savings and was watched by 3.6 million viewers and a 16% share.
On BBC One, the grim truths looked at by The Secret Bribes of Big Tobacco – Panorama (8:30pm) bagged an audience of 2 million viewers and a 9% share.
[advert position=”left”]Earlier in the treacherous world of soap, Emmerdale (ITV, 7pm) was watched by 6.3 million viewers and a 31% share while EastEnders managed fractionally less with 6.3 million viewers and a 28% share at 8pm on BBC One.
But it was Coronation Street (ITV, 7:30pm) that managed to grab Monday’s silver medal with scenes of Les Dennis falling asleep helping secure 7.4 million viewers and a 34% 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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