BBC One’s extremely well-received adaptation of John le Carré’s spy novel The Night Manager came to an exciting end on Sunday with the star-studded thriller eclipsing all other shows over the four day weekend.
The show, starring Tom Hiddleston as a former solider tasked with lounging about glamorous locales and bedding frosty dolly birds by spymaster Olivia Coleman, débuted at the tail-end of February with an overnight audience of 6.1 million viewers.
Over the next few weeks, the clandestine thrills of watching Hiddleston infiltrate the inner circle of Hugh Laurie’s arms dealer (while bedding his missus) quickly become a Sunday night staple for many, with the following four episodes securing a solid average of 6.2 million viewers each.
Sunday night’s grand finale at 9pm saw the average peak slightly, with 6.6 million viewers and a 28% share tuning in to see if all the moody look-sponsored posturing in top-end suits would actually amount to a satisfying conclusion.
This seemed to be enough of a success for BBC One to consider another series, despite the fact that the tale of lies, terrorism and fancy yachts seems to be very much wrapped up.
In comparison, Saturday’s biggest event was the International Football face-off between Germany and England at 7:30pm on ITV, which bagged a little over 6 million viewers, while Sunday’s top performing show returned the schedule to normality with Coronation Street (ITV) taking in a little under 6.6 million viewers last night 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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