Davina’s extreme wetness – final episode bucks downward trend
After three punishing instalments, last night saw ITV’s latest adventure show wrap up as Davina McCall: Life at the Extreme (9pm) planted the former Big Brother presenter in another thrilling environment.
The first episode saw Davina tick her ‘hot’ box by visiting a desert, freaking out local wildlife and pulling in 3.4 million viewers, while the second instalment saw the vainly enthused presenter get all ‘deep’ by jumping into the ocean and marvelling at things there.
This third outing saw the audience fall to 3.1 million viewers, with last week’s brave venture to find the source of ‘cold’ in the Arctic Circle falling even further to 2.5 million viewers.
So it was some small relief last night as the grand finale managed to fight back against this downward trend, with the fourth episode managing to pull in the show’s third biggest audience.
Yesterday saw Davina invite viewers on an adventure in EXTREME wetness by way of the Costa Rica (wettest place on Earth, apparently) with 2.8 million viewers watching the presenter meet some more monkeys while courageously dealing with humidity issues.
The damp excursion in iffy televisual concepts came to a close with a 14% share for ITV and bagged the biggest audience in the 9pm slot.
Meanwhile, BBC One was content with taking a night off and filled up its airwaves with yet another repeat of now-defunct but curiously popular New Tricks (9pm).
The episode from 2012 saw Dennis Waterman and Denis Lawson take centre stage as they travelled all the way to Scotland to solve the case of the butchered bookie. An audience of 2.5 million viewers caught up with the old new trick, resulting in a 13% share.
Over on BBC Two, American Crime Story: The Trial of OJ Simpson (9pm) saw prosecutor Marcia Clarke come under fire, with public opinion about her hairstyle and dress sense threatening to overshadow the case at hand.
Last night, the almost unbelievable – but highly addictive – tale of media manipulation and hysteria secured 1.2 million viewers and a 6% share.
Elsewhere, Royal Navy School (9pm) came to an end with its seventh and final episode. Like many, many fixed-rig Channel 4 documentaries before it, the show allowed viewers into the classrooms, dorms and showers of new recruits, documenting every mishap and tantrum along the way.
Opening with 1.8 million viewers, the HD-camera-on-the-wall series stayed consistent throughout. Last night 1.6 million viewers tuned in to watch the youngsters complete their journey to boisterous whelps to functioning adults, resulting in an 8% share.
Meanwhile, Channel 5 was indulging in a tad of corporate propaganda with The Tube: Going Underground (9pm) which, surprisingly, came from the makers of BBC Two’s less forceful The Tube from 2012.
1.4 million viewers chose to spend their evening in the claustrophobic and, apparently, seriously outdated transport system, resulting in a 7% share.
Earlier in the day, University Challenge (8pm) bagged 2.7 million viewers for BBC Two while Tales from Northumberland with Robson Green (8pm) saw the actor banter with more locals and netted 2.9 million viewers for ITV.
Secrets of Cadbury: Channel 4 Dispatches traumatised a nation and revealed that a friendly and cuddly international conglomerate lied to parliament about the future of Dairy Milk production and that Bourneville bars weren’t even made in Bourneville anymore, shocking the pants of 1.7 million viewers, while BBC One’s grimmer Too Poor to Stay Warm – Panorama secured 2.4 million at 8:30pm.
Earlier in the soap wars, Emmerdale bagged 6.1 million viewers and a 32% share at 7pm on ITV, followed by EastEnders at 8pm on BBC One, which took in 6.3 million viewers and a 29% share.
But it was a double dollop of Coronation Street (ITV) that took the top spots, with 7 million viewers and a 34% share tuning in at 7:30pm, falling to 6.4 million viewers and a 30% share at 8:30pm.
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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