Channel 4’s No Offence finale down -53% on episode one but will return
Tuesday night brought the end of Paul Abbot’s off-beat Mancunian cop dramedy, No Offence (9pm), which despite falling ratings, appears to be a hit for Channel 4.
Opening with 2.2 million viewers eight weeks ago, the dark and outrageous show focused on a mismatched team of detectives in the fictional Manchester Metropolitan Police and – as expected from the writer of Cracker, Touching Evil, State of Play, Hit & Miss and Shameless – set to shock from the outset.
With the team spending the majority of the first series searching for a serial killer that targeted little girls with Down Syndrome, yesterday’s finale focused on the fallout from last week’s instalment when DI Vivienne Deering (In the Loop‘s Joanna Scanlan) took matters into her own hands.
A little over 1 million viewers tuned in to see Deering attempt to save her professional career, netting Channel 4’s biggest audience of the day with a 5% share.
Despite this massive -53% fall in viewers over the course of eight episodes, the broadcaster has already given the go ahead for a second series of anarchic policing fun, indicating a successful run for the refreshing drama.
Meanwhile, BBC One’s current big player, The Syndicate (9pm), continued with the manor house-set third series still proving a hit.
Opening with 5.4 million viewers at the start of June, the show about the fortunes of a group of lottery winners continued to secure the biggest share in its time slot, with last night being no exception.
5.1 million viewers watched as the search for missing chamber maid, Amy, stepped up a gear, with yesterday’s episode focusing on Lord and Lady Hazelwood, the troubled owners of the decrepit country manor.
In total, a 26% share tuned in to catch up with the latest twists and turns with the cash-rich staff, easily beating all competition.
The excitement could barely be contained over on ITV with one-off documentary Don’t Blame the Council (9pm), which attempted to turn the story of Wigan council – which turned itself into a profit-making enterprise when faced with more funding cuts – into prime time entertainment.
A total of 1.6 million viewers tuned in to see if the entire initiative would end in disaster and turn Wigan into a lawless wasteland, resulting in an 8% share.
Even more thrilling was The Bank: A Matter of Life and Debt (BBC Two, 9pm), as the Corporation’s documentary crew grew tired of the KFC stink and decided to hop into bed with NatWest’s PR people instead.
The latest in a long line of incidental, schedule-filing, workplace documentaries, the attempted to reveal the human face of corporate greed by highlighting the hard-working (and shockingly underpaid) staff at a branch in Huddersfield.
903,000 viewers decided to spend their Tuesday evening in the northern bank branch, resulting in a 5% share.
Meanwhile, Channel 5 decided to offer up a little fun with the latest OAPs Behaving Badly (9pm) securing 706,000 viewers and a 4% share.
At 8pm, Holby City (BBC One) managed 4.2 million viewers, while Natural World (BBC Two) was watched by 1.8 million. On ITV, Love Your Garden captured 2.5 million souls, while Running the Shop on Channel 4 netted 910,000 viewers and Channel 5’s The Dog Rescuers secured an audience of 796,000 viewers.
At 7pm, the latest episode of Emmerdale (ITV) was watched by 5 million viewers and a 31% share while EastEnders (7:30pm) took the top spot for BBC One with 6 million viewers and a 34% 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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