Despite significant declines recorded in March, all digital news platforms experienced good growth in April, except for the Independent.co.uk, which saw a -7.4% decline to just over one million daily users.

Swapping flat pack IKEA knock offs for cow pat caked wellies, Wednesday night saw Lord Sugar’s motley crew of bumbling hopefuls head to the countryside in the fourth episode of The Apprentice (BBC One, 9pm).

As viewers struggled with the Tuesday blues, soap characters turned to illicit vices to get them through last night. Drug taking appeared to be all the rage in the soaps with Emmerdale (ITV) kicking off the frenzy of increased sensitivity at 7pm.

Turning the attention away from any ongoing internal scandals, last night saw BBC One’s Panorama investigation into the Hillsborough disaster point its big stick of blame at misleading officials and the emergency services.

After a weekend of cheap and light entertainment, it was no surprise to see yesterday evening’s viewers flock to BBC One’s earnest and sobering Sunday output.

For the third time in just two weeks traditional soap underdog Emmerdale (ITV) was triumphant against its age old rival over on BBC One.

Last night saw soap fans reel in horror as football bled into the schedules, forcing Coronation Street to air much earlier than usual – resulting in a significant drop in viewers.

After Monday evening’s cornucopia of harsh realism, Tuesday’s prime time options at least attempted to remedy the dire situation with a new series about (comparatively) happy characters.

Monday’s prime time slot brought a deluge of social extremes, representing a wide variety of British life. And for once, last night’s ratings proved to be just as fragmented as real life.

In place of the usual Sunday evening fare (child killers, dusty detectives, gray tinged anti-nostalgia etc) was a flurry of snapping cameras and giant white smiles as the British Academy Television Awards (BBC One, 9pm) kicked off from London’s Royal Festival Hall.