BBC One’s Train Robbery overshadows Lord Lucan’s fate on ITV
They say timing is everything – an old adage that proved equally as well for BBC One last night as it did for Ronnie Biggs and the rest of the team behind The Great Train Robbery (BBC One, 8pm) 50 years previously.
Coming on the same day of Biggs’ death, the corporation decided to go ahead with broadcasting the first of a two part dramatisation from the writer of Broadchurch. Last night’s hour and a half opening focused on the infamous crime through the eyes of the ruthless gang behind the event, always careful not to portray them in a heroic fashion.
The media coverage certainly helped BBC One with its prime time proposition, with an audience of 5.2 million tuning in for the remarkably timed transmission. An audience share of 23% watched the legendary heist unfold, securing the biggest audience during the show’s air time.
All the media commotion certainly took some of the steam out of ITV’s prime time engine. It was only seven days ago that the commercial broadcaster’s speculative drama about Lucan (ITV, 9pm) was grabbing the nation’s attention, with 3.9 million tuning in to see the build up to the gambling cad’s brutal murder of his children’s nanny.
The second and final part of Lucan dived head first into purely fictional territory, as the Lord’s network of similarly privileged associates rallied together to figure out just what was to be done about the scoundrel’s latest bout of misbehaviour.
The air of intrigue and the chance to finally find out what (most likely) happened to one of UK’s most high profile missing persons didn’t stop the drama from shedding 33% of its audience one week on.
2.6 million viewers tuned in to discover John Bingham, the 7th Earl of Lucan’s fate, grabbing a 12% share, which meant that BBC One clearly won Wednesday’s prime time battle with the use of shady historical figures as arsenal.
To add insult to injury, it was a repeat of Mrs. Brown’s Boys that helped BBC One hold onto the biggest audience once the robbery had wrapped up at 9:30pm. The Christmas special from last year saw the Dublin matriarch soften at the edges with some seriously cheesy moments (stage school children were involved), helping to attract 4.9 million viewers and a 22% share.
Holly Willoughby and her manipulative brand of emotional tat on Surprise Surprise (ITV, 8pm) was tasked with going up against BBC One’s big event and still managed to attract an impressive audience.
With help from Michael Buble (he always shows up for these type of things), Cher and a semi-coherent Britney Spears, Holly’s mission was successful – making members of the public cry for the nation’s entertainment, all under the guise of the festive good will.
A little under 4 million viewers watched as Holly and her team of professional tear-extractors pressed all those emotional buttons, netting an 18% share. Further proof that the formula works was the response on Twitter – the show was the most tweeted about programme of the day, netting a peak of 599 tweets per minute.
It wasn’t all bad news for ITV though, as the broadcaster was responsible for the two biggest hits of the day. Wednesday meant that soap duties belonged solely to ITV, with Emmerdale bringing in 6.2 million viewers and a 31% share at 7pm.
But it was Tina McIntyre’s wandering lips on Coronation Street (ITV, 7:30pm) that got yesterday’s audience watching en masse. Not content with bewitching newlywed Peter Barlow, last night’s action saw the Weatherfield slapper romantically accosting Rob Donavon in the backyard of the Rovers, resulting in a classy time for all.
In total, 7.4 million viewers tuned in to see the latest torrid encounter on the street, netting a 35% share and the biggest audience of the day.
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