BAFTA TV Awards brings glamour to Sunday night with 5.5m viewers
Last night saw BBC One offer up a little bit of Sunday night glamour as the beautiful and (relatively) famous descended upon London’s Covent Garden for the ultimate night of industry self-congratulation that is The British Academy Television Awards (9pm).
The 61st annual ceremony saw stars of the small screen, and viewers at home, in the safe and experienced hands of presenter Graham Norton, who once again balanced the fine line of whipping up an excited air of pomp while not taking any of it too seriously.
In what was billed as a bumper year for British television, odds-on favourites were overshadowed in shock wins such as Georgina Campbell, the relatively unknown star of BBC Three’s oft-repeated Murdered by My Boyfriend, beating phenomenal turns from Sarah Lancashire (Happy Valley) and Keeley Hawes (Line of Duty).
Improving upon last year’s awards-disrupting ritual by a whopping 112,000 viewers, last night’s ceremony from Drury Lane’s Theatre Royal secured an average audience of 5.2 million viewers for its two hours running times.
Scenes of Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly receiving their customary (and seemingly obligatory) Best Entertainment Performance helped the show secure a 24% share.
Meanwhile, the second episode of ITV’s ‘important’ new drama Home Fires (9pm) gave BBC One a run for its money as the plucky WI ladies of Great Paxton had to battle distractions in the form of a large deposit of RAF men in the village.
Last week’s opening episode saw 4.8 million viewers tune in to see the jam-making troupe struggle with the onset of the Second World War, with yesterday’s melodrama seeing the audience fall slightly to 4.6 million viewers.
Yesterday’s slice of melancholy-tinted sentimentality saw Samantha Bond and Francesca Annis lock horns in a bloody battle for control of their local Women’s Institute group, netting a 31% share.
Slightly less exciting for a Sunday evening was BBC Two’s docu-drama (it’s a thing now) Wellington: The Iron Duke Unmasked (9pm), starring Richard E Grant as the eponymous Napoleon-slaying superhero of yore.
1.1 million viewers tuned in to see Grant flex those acting chops as Wellington sat around, looking serious and writing letters, resulting in a 5% share.
At the same time, Channel 4 treated viewers to a bit of last minute weekend escapism in the form of Ridley Scott’s 2012 misfire Prometheus (9pm).
Starring Noomi Rapace, the original Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, as the universe’s silliest scientist, the prequel adventure attempted to expand the Alien universe but ultimately served as another nail in the coffin for the franchise.
1.4 million viewers tuned in to see the lush visuals, with Michael Fassbender as Rapace’s decapitated and aspirational sidekick helping bring in an 8% share.
At 8pm, ITV tried its hand at a bit of old fashioned variety with Sunday Night at the Palladium returning for a second week. Like a version of Britain’s Got Talent where all the acts are…just okay, the singing, dancing and performing netted 3.5 million and a 17% share.
On BBC Two, the Hunters of the South Sea (8pm) finale was watched by 1.2 million viewers (a 6% share) while Definitely Not Top Gear (aka For the Love of Cars) was watched by 1.3 million viewers and a 6% share.
Meanwhile Channel 5 was busy dumping the unmitigated horror of Grown Ups onto an unsuspecting audience as Adam Sandler led an ‘all-star’ cast about needy, whiny and entitled adults, resulting in 1.2 million viewers and a 6% share.
But as usual, Sunday’s top dog came in the form of those ruddy, personable and North Face-clad presenters of Countryfile (7pm) as they celebrated some of their farming heroes.
An audience of 6 million viewers tuned in to see the gang celebrate the inventor of the tractor, netting a 32% 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.