AMC and Channel 4 team-up Humans débuts with 3.4m viewers
Last night saw Channel 4 launch a brand new show, the creepy and unnerving psychological drama Humans (9pm), to a strong buzz and impressive ratings, with the broadcaster easily beating BBC One and also managing to give ITV a run for its money.
Set in a ‘parallel present’ where eerie almost-real androids are the must-have gadget, the meditative sci-fi drama saw The IT Crowd‘s Katherine Parkinson develop a serious case of the heebie jeebies after her husband brings a ‘synth’ home to help look after the kids.
A collaboration between Channel 4 and AMC, the American broadcaster of Mad Men and Breaking Bad, the adaptation of the award-winning Swedish show Real Humans also saw silver screen legend William Hurt star as a widower with a disturbing attachment to outdated model, Odi.
The first of eight episodes managed to overshadow BBC One’s offering but failed to beat ITV’s more traditional Sunday night fayre. In total, an audience of 3.4 million viewers tuned in to meet Anita and the rest of her manufactured friends, resulting in a 16% share for Channel 4 and generating a decent amount of attention on Twitter.
Try as it might, the impressive world-building of Humans failed to beat the sixth and final episode of ITV’s strong-lady drama Home Fires (9pm).
The refined tale about a rural Cheshire WI community attempting to do their part during World War II opened up with 4.6 million viewers in early May. Last night’s finale actually improved on that, with 4.9 million viewers and a 22% share tuning in to see how the battles, near and far, played out, securing the 9pm slot for ITV.
Not fairing so well was BBC One’s adaptation of Susanna Clarke’s cult ‘alternative history’ novel Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (9pm).
Basically Sherlock with a little dash of Harry Potter thrown in for good measure (making it more English than a jug of Pimm’s at Wimbledon), the period fantasy drama debuted with a healthy audience of 4.5 million viewers five weeks ago but failed to retain anywhere near that amount of viewers in the following weeks.
Last night saw just 1.8 million viewers catch up with the latest slice of 18th century magic, resulting in an 8% share for BBC One.
At the same time on BBC Two, Jonathan Dimbleby presented the first part of documentary The BBC at War (9pm). No, not a behind-the-scenes look at the in-fighting amongst Blue Peter presenters; the show examined the role of the BBC during the Second World War and brought in 1.1 million viewers and a 5% share.
Topping yesterday’s Twitter TV chart was Big Brother Timewarp Live Launch (9pm) on Channel 5 in which some old contestants were released from some kind of bunker. An audience of 1.1 million viewers and a 5% share tuned in to see which BB ‘stars’ of yesteryear would make an appearance.
A little earlier BBC One brought out the big guns in the form of Countryfile (7pm) and Antiques Roadshow (8pm), which nabbed the day’s two biggest audiences. 5.7 million viewers and a 30% share tuned in for the latest rural scenery, while Fiona Bruce and her team of treasure hunters were watched by 5.4 million viewers and a 26% share.
4:30pm on ITV brought the Euro 2016 Qualifier between Slovenia and England, bringing in a total of 4.8 million viewers (with 1.4 million of those enjoying the action in HD), resulting in a 31% share.
Way before that, all the way back on Friday night, was the one-off return of seminal 90s chat show TFI Friday (9pm), with 3.4 million viewers tuning in to see if Chris Evans and Blur could channel some of that old magic.
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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