Running drama Prey returns to ITV with a -44% audience drop
Last night saw ITV attempt to bottle lightning for the second time as the commercial broadcaster launched a second miniseries of last year’s well-received one-off chase drama Prey (9pm).
The three-part series opened up at the tail end of April 2014 and featured John Simm as a Manchester police officer wrongly accused of murdering his wife and child, resulting in lots of adrenaline-fuelled running and moody glances from our behoodied hero.
The tense drama opened up with an impressive début audience of 5.7 million viewers, and although this fell to 5.2 million for the third episode, it was enough to guarantee a second run.
Wednesday night was Simm’s Life on Mars co-star Philip Glenister pick up the reigns and take over moody-man-on-the-run duties, playing a mild mannered prison officer who is forced to flee with a young female prisoner when his pregnant daughter is taken hostage.
The convoluted plot may have suffered slightly from the accursed True Detective syndrome, with a quality first series blind-siding viewers before completely wiping the slate clean for a second run.
Unfortunately for ITV, this brand new set-up resulted in an unbelievable -44% drop compared to last year’s opening episode. In total, an average audience of 3.2 million viewers tuned in to see Glenister spring his new friend from prison, resulting in a 15% share.
But it was BBC One and Lord Alan Sugar’s comedy roadshow The Apprentice (9pm) that secured the biggest prime time audience, as the ever diminishing candidates unearthed more chaos from a seemingly simple task.
An audience of 5.3 million viewers tuned in to see the hopefuls tasked with creating and selling a new health snack as both teams proved to be amazingly incompetent, creating inedible ‘nutritional’ horrors.
Scenes of emotional bros crying in the boardroom helped the show secure a 25% share and generated more tweets than any other TV show.
Over on BBC Two, art historian Andrew Graham-Dixon attempted to uncover some Secrets of the Mona Lisa (9pm), with 1.4 million viewers and a 6% share tuning in to be disappointed there were no Da Vinci code type twists.
24 Hours in A&E provided some real life drama at 9pm on Channel 4, with 1.4 million viewers and a 7% share tuning in to meet this week’s lucky stars, while Can’t Pay? We’ll Take It Away (Channel 5, 9pm) secured 1.1 million viewers and a 5% share.
Earlier at 8pm Cuffs brought in 2.8 million viewers (a 13% share) to BBC One, while BBC Two secured 2.9 million viewers (a 13% share) with MasterChef: The Professionals.
ITV managed to squeeze another 6 million viewers out of its silly but fun jungle show with I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! Coming Out (8pm) bringing the audience up to speed with Lady C’s mental health issues after leaving the jungle, resulting in a 27% share.
On Channel 4, self-styled eccentric animal saviour The Supervet (8pm) managed to secure 1.3 million viewers with its mix of fluffy critters and emotional drama, resulting in a 6% share.
At 7pm, the latest slice of charming teatime violence and intimidation on Emmerdale (ITV) brought in 5.6 million viewers and a 30% share.
Also upsetting prewatershed audiences was news of Ken Barlow’s seemingly active sex life on Coronation Street (ITV, 7:30pm).
Wednesday’s biggest audience watched as the ageing Lothario was rewarded with a cooked breakfast after his new girlfriend Nessa was impressed with her first sleepover.
An audience of 6.6 million viewers received a dose of TMI as we heard about Ken being ‘very generous’, with talk of spiritual and physical connections freaking out 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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