BBC One’s unstoppable Celebrity MasterChef nets 9pm slot
After (what feels like) a mere few days since the last series wrapped up, Thursday evening saw the launch of the latest run of Celebrity MasterChef (9pm) as idle celebrities of yesteryear strapped on their pinafores in a frantic bid for some national exposure.
The tenth series of immortal brand (31st overall, including the main show and all the previous formats) saw chart cast-offs Chesney Hawkes and Sarah Harding joined in the kitchen by ‘wacky’ and highly profitable ghost befriender Yvette Fielding and two other place holders you probably haven’t heard of.
3.8 million viewers tuned in to be served up a slightly cold and regurgitated version of what came before, resulting in an 18% share and the biggest 9pm audience.
Over on BBC Two, the concluding half of ominous thriller Stonemouth (9pm) saw a dip in viewers since last week’s opening episode brought in 2.1 million.
An audience of 1.5 million watched last night to find out the truth behind a mysterious suicide, uncovering the secrets of the Scottish town’s close-knit community along the way.
The adaptation of Iain Banks’s foreboding novel brought in an 8% share and BBC Two’s biggest audience of the day.
After three weeks ITV’s latest foray into workplace docs, Britain’s Busiest Airport – Heathrow (9pm) came to an end and impressively lost very few viewers along the way.
Like many, many documentaries before it, the show detailed the hectic behind-the-scenes efforts involved in keeping a large scale operation from imploding daily, featuring a host of unique characters for viewers to enjoy.
Opening with 3 million viewers, last night’s finale – which could have easily worked as a second series of Matt Lucas and David Walliams’ Come Fly With Me – secured a healthy 2.7 million viewers and a 14% share.
On Channel 4, intrusive family documentary The Tribe continued at 9pm. The second episode of the observational family sitcom saw the large Ethiopian clan dealing with a stroppy teenager who had one or two issues with being married off.
Following on from last week’s 1.4 million viewers, yesterday’s slice of domestic fun brought in 1.1 million viewers and a 5% share.
In a similar vein, an audience of 948,000 viewers spent the 9pm hour gawping at the spray-tanned and mentally unstable house mates of Big Brother, securing a 5% share for Channel 5.
Earlier at 8pm, Watchdog (BBC One) netted 3.3 million viewers, while Dogs: Their Secret Lives secured 1.1 million viewers for Channel 4 and the desolate Benefits Britain: Life on the Dole pulled in 649,000 viewers to Channel 5.
On ITV at 8:30pm was the latest Big Box Little Box, which is basically like Gogglebox, except the lovely families here a tasked with plugging redundant products to the masses. 2.1 million viewers tuned in for the latest gadget reviews and recommendations, resulting in a 12% share.
As usual, the soaps took the top spots with a double helping of rural naughtiness in Emmerdale (ITV) bringing in 5 million viewers and 4.7 million viewers at 7pm and 8pm, respectively.
But it was Shirley Carter’s latest woes on EastEnders that took the top spot with 5.4 million and 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.
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