BBC One’s Happy Valley continues to dominate Tuesdays
Tuesday night once again saw the second series of Happy Valley (9pm) cast a long shadow over its prime time competitors as the show, from the office of the West Yorkshire Anti-Tourism Board, once again rose head and shoulders above its rivals.
The slightly unfocused second run of Sally Wainwright’s tale of small-town law-keeping continued apace last night, setting up the ultimate endgame with a number of the narratives kicking up a gear.
With two episodes left to go, it remains to be seen who exactly is Sergeant Catherine Cawood’s (Sarah Lancashire) greatest threat – Tommy Lee Royce’s (James Norton) very own limp puppet, the mumbling creepy school assistant, the Halifax Mafia or a prostitute-slaying serial killer…to name but a few.
While it might sound a bit too Silent Witness, the show has managed to keep its trademark grounded flavour, with highlights including Cawood verbally ripping her junior officers a new one, pretending to be a happy human being at her grandson’s party and her single-woman take down of a Scalextric set.
The well-received and brutally honest drama returned in early February with its highest ever audience and has confidently clung on to a core audience ever since.
Last night’s trip to the sunny Calder Valley brought in 6.4 million viewers and a 30% share, making it yesterday’s most watched show.
Over on ITV at 9pm, there was another quality hour of prime time telly in the form of Car Crash Britain: Caught on Camera, which delivered another thrilling episode, this one cleverly titled Frustrated Britain: Caught on Camera.
Mixing in real CCTV and dashcam footage of people losing their minds over life’s more trivial issues, the voyeuristic look at the country’s more fragile motorists bagged 1.5 million viewers and a 7% share.
Over on Channel 5, it was time to wave a tearful goodbye to the broadcaster’s latest attempt at creating barrel-scraping ‘conversation’ with the grand finale of ‘bold social experiment’ (a term to be wary of if there ever was one) The Great British Benefits Handout (9pm).
1.3 million viewers tuned in to see if any of the four families were better off with their lump sums in exchange for signing off, resulting in mixed fortunes and a 6% share.
Channel 4’s Born to be Different (9pm) caught up with five families living with a child with disabilities, 15 years after the first instalment and three years since the last.
1 million viewers tuned in to see the ongoing challenges of growing up different, resulting in a 5% share.
On BBC Two, the second episode of Who’s the Boss? (9pm) saw the collaborative recruitment process continue with the ‘action’ moving to a chocolate factory in Preston and netted 734,000 viewers and a 4% share.
Earlier at 8pm, Holby City simply showed up and secured BBC One 4.6 million viewers and a 22% share while BBC Two’s Back in Time for the Weekend was watched by 2.3 million viewers and an 11% share.
On ITV, host Ben Miller and very special guest (and on-hand ITV employee) Eamonn Holmes investigated the explosive power of sugar in the latest bout of daft time-passer It’s Not Rocket Science (8pm). The third episode of the vaguely science-related show secured 1.7 million viewers and an 8% share.
On Channel 4, the penultimate episode of The Secret Life of the Zoo (8pm) saw a tense hostage situation unfold as a renegade chimpanzee captured a baby bird/duck thing.
2 million viewers tuned in to see negotiations for the moorhen chick’s safe release, with the chimpanzee’s attention-seeking ways (a word of warning, this is what happens when a broadcaster decides to put cameras everywhere) bagging a 10% share.
Back over on Channel 5 there were plenty of scenes of people looking miserable and soggy in a brand new series of Britain’s Horror Homes (8pm), with 1 million viewers and a 5% share tuning in.
There was some more village fun at 7pm as the charming residents of Emmerdale (ITV) helped secure 5.7 million viewers and a 29% share while BBC One’s EastEnders (7:30pm) brought in the day’s second biggest audience with 6.3 million viewers and a 31% 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.