Wednesday night saw the return of dumb-as-a-bag-of-hammers-yet-perfectly-entertaining The Interceptor (9pm) as the second episode of BBC One’s super cop drama upped the silliness.
Last week’s début episode introduced viewers to the elite and shadowy law enforcement team Unit – and the hoard of two dimensional clichéd ridden characters that work there – with episode two seeing broody Special Agent Ash (O. T. Fagbenle) step up his crime-fighting game.
An audience of 3.7 million viewers tuned in last week to see the team come together to defeat a hysterically non-threatening crime boss (played with unselfconscious abandon by Waking the Dead‘s Trevor Eve), resulting in the show securing the 9pm slot.
Despite a deluge of dodgy reviews, the -24% week on week fall in viewers wasn’t as life-threatening as expected, with an audience of 2.8 million tuning in for the second slice of dreadful dialogue.
This lapse in popularity saw The Interceptor lose its short-lived control of the 9pm slot, resulting in a 14% share.
In the end it was ITV’s dependable wailing-fest Long Lost Family (9pm) that brought the people together, after being narrowly beaten last week by BBC One’s children’s drama for adults.
The latest spell of Davina McCall-sponsored tales of tragedy dressed up as therapeutic entertainment was watched by 3.6 million viewers and an 18% share, bagging the 9pm slot for ITV.
24 Hours in A&E (9pm) brought in Channel 4’s biggest audience of the day, with 1.5 million viewers meeting the latest unfortunate guest stars, netting an 8% share.
At the same time on Channel 5, Caught on Camera provided some more real-life thrills, with 571,000 viewers and a 3% share catching up with the specially-themed ‘fire starter’ episode.
Earlier at 8pm, hearts were once again melted on DIY SOS: The Big Build (BBC One) as those lovely builders helped out another family in need, securing 4.4 million viewers and a 24% share.
Philip Schofield continued to suffer on The Cube (ITV, 8pm) with 2.8 million viewers tuning in for a little bit of weekend fun on a Wednesday, while The Auction House on Channel 4 managed to pull in just 167,000 viewers.
ITV’s soaps took the top spots with Emmerdale wrangling in 5.5 million viewers and a 33% share, while Coronation Street kept its crown with 6.3 million viewers and a 35% 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.
To get all the latest Mediatel Newsline updates follow us on Twitter.
