BBC One’s Strictly twice defeats ITV’s weekend arsenal
The past weekend saw both BBC One and ITV celebrate victories both modest and massive, with each side unleashing an arsenal of well-established crowd pleasers.
Saying that, Saturday’s first big hit did come in the form of Pointless Celebrities at 6pm on BBC One, providing some easy going teatime entertainment to warm viewers up for the main events.
The Formula One edition of the show brought in 5.7 million viewers and a 29% share, setting up a solid evening for the broadcaster.
Straight up afterwards was the all-dancing, all-sparkly extravagance of Strictly Come Dancing (6:50pm) which saw the seven remaining couples being forced to take part in a quickstepathon after already performing twice for the baying masses.
An audience of 10.2 million viewers tuned in to be disappointed that the quickstepathon wasn’t the bloodied-feet horror endurance trial that was promised, resulting in a solid 45% share.
At the same time on ITV, The Chase: Celebrity Special (7pm) netted a relatively decent 2.8 million viewers and a 13% share.
After his recent loss, Doctor Who popped up on BBC One at 8pm in a valiant effort to deflate the light and empty air out of Saturday night’s schedule with a truly gruelling and impressive ‘adventure’ through the dark recesses of the Time Lord’s soul.
The penultimate episode of the relaunched show’s ninth series saw Peter Capaldi take centre stage in a haunting one man show.
4.5 million viewers watched as a terrified and alone Doctor attempted to make his way around a moving castle while being haunted by his demons, with the intense acting spectacle resulting in a 21% share.
Battling out against the 12th Doctor was the 12th series of (if tabloids are to be believed) the terminally ill The X Factor (8pm). 6.4 million viewers tuned in for another hour and 45 minutes of live drama, resulting in a 29% share.
Also in need of resuscitation were some of the never-ending guest stars on Casualty (BBC One, 9pm), with Saturday’s maternity drama securing a little under 4 million viewers and an 18% share.
Over on ITV there was a Susannah Constantine-shaped hole in the I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! (9:45pm) camp as the tension continued to grow. 7.2 million viewers tuned in for the late night helping of bushtucker trials, resulting in a 36% share.
As usual, Sunday’s schedule pretty much repeated all of Saturday’s big players, with a few variations thrown in for good measure.
First up in the evening was a fresh crop of televisual produce with Countryfile on BBC One at 6:20pm. 7.4 million watched as Ellie Harrison met a man who painted birds while Adam Henson got all concerned about painting real cattle different colours, resulting in a 36% share.
[advert position=”left”]ITV’s hokey family offering Jekyll and Hyde (7pm) received some help from some decent performances on Sunday from Kevin Eldon (he’s in everything) and Amelia Bullmore (Scott and Bailey). The tale saw Hyde (and by default Jekyll) enjoy a nice trip to the countryside, securing 1.6 million viewers and a 7% share.
At 7:20pm Strictly Come Dancing secured the weekend’s biggest audience, with scenes of Peter Andre getting kicked out of the competition bringing in 10.5 million viewers and a 43% share.
Afterwards, Antiques Roadshow (BBC One, 8pm) didn’t even try and cause a fuss but still managed to secure 5.7 million viewers and a 24% share.
Over on ITV, the intense drama of The X Factor Results (8pm) saw Celine from 4th Impact collapse for the second time in the competition, with 6.5 million viewers and a 27% share tuning in to see the Filipino four piece have their dreams destroyed on live TV.
There was even more excitement on I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! at 9pm as a chaotic electric storm saw the camp lose power. 8.7 million viewers tuned in to see the possibility of campmates put in actual danger, resulting in a 38% share.
Alternatively, BBC One offered more honest Sunday evening TV, with The Hunt providing scenes of animals tearing each other apart, picking up an audience of 3.8 million viewers and a 16% share along the way.
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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