All change on ITV’s Benidorm sees eighth series down by -15%
Monday night saw the majority of prime time viewers attempt to escape the January Monday blues via two very distinct shows, each from completely opposite sides of the bipolar schedule spectrum.
The more obvious tonic was found over on ITV at 9pm, as the commercial broadcaster welcomed the return of comedy writer and actor Derren Litten’s Benidorm for an eight run of crowd-pleasing, all-inclusive fun.
Although there have been many changes over the years, as always the show’s large ensemble cast could be split into two looks – the precariously glowing sunburnt and aged oak leather variation.
Debuting in February 2007 with 5.1 million viewers, Litten’s straight-forward old-school comedy made a refreshing change in a post-modern post-Office schedule and has maintained enough popularity to see through another seven series and two specials.
Last night kicked off a fresh seven episode run, with the hole left by the departure of Steve Pemperton-led Garvey family was filled by resort newcomers, the Dawsons.
Last year’s trip to the sun opened up with 5.4 million viewers, with yesterday’s return falling -15% year on year. [advert position=”left”]
An audience of 4.6 million viewers took ITV’s offer of pure sun-soaked and light hearted escapism, leading to a 20% share.
At the same time, the 9pm slot’s biggest audience decided to face the existential bleakness head on with the safe cookie cutter grimness of Silent Witness on BBC One.
The 19th series of grey-toned, corpse-poking fun returned last week with a suitably cheerful storyline, with the first two-part case bringing in 6.5 million viewers on Monday, jumping up to 6.7 million for the conclusion on Tuesday.
Last night’s fresh case opened up with charming scenes from the Bosnian War in 1995 before quickly bringing viewers back to traditional Silent Witness territory as Dr Nikki and her man colleagues investigated the murder of an anti-fundamentalist Iman in London.
An audience of 6.2 million viewers tuned in for the latest dark tale, resulting in a 26% share and the biggest audience in its time slot.
Over on Channel 4, The Undateables (9pm) continued on their quest to find some lovin’ in the second episode of the fifth series, netting 1.6 million viewers and a 7% share.
On Celebrity Big Brother (Channel 5, 9pm), one housemate in particular saw their all-important real world exposure explode overnight and, naturally, opted to stay put and milk the situation, resulting in 1.8 million viewers and an 8% share.
On BBC Two, the historian with the magic hair was back to excitedly drag viewers back in time in Immortal Egypt with Joan Fletcher (9pm).
The second of four episodes saw our Joan explore an actual pyramid, although it was more first year history than Indian Jones, with the sandy adventure netting 1.2 million viewers and a 5% share.
Delivering a Monday night dollop of harrowing reality a little earlier was the latest Panorama at 8:30pm on BBC One.
In fairness, Teenage Prison Abuse Exposed did exactly what it said on the tin and aired some hard-to-watch, secretly filmed scenes from a Kent young offenders centre and has already seen security firm G4S take action against its staff.
2.9 million viewers tuned in for the hard-hitting expose, resulting in a 13% share.
Earlier, the barrage of soapy drama got off to a good start at 7pm on ITV, with Emmerdale netting 6.3 million viewers and a 30% share.
At 8pm on BBC One, Stacey Slater took one step closer to God in EastEnders and managed to secure the day’s second biggest audience, netting 7.3 million viewers and a 31% share.
The cobbles-based drama of Coronation Street bagged the number one spot at 7:30pm on ITV, netting 7.5 million viewers and a 34% share, falling to 6.8 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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