Child Genius’ audience remains consistent to the end on C4
Tuesday night’s prime time fun saw not one but two final instalments of two very different shows about children, as those nervy and pressured kids of Child Genius faced off against the brave troopers of Great Ormond Street for the third week in a row.
Child Genius: The Final (Channel 4, 9pm) saw the original group of 20 bright-eyed hopeful children culled down to a determined five, as the confident tots took to the stage to battle it out for national glory with their freakishly over-active craniums as their only weapon.
After five episodes of tantrums, tears, scary parents and insane displays of intelligence, last night finally brought some closure to the show’s small but dedicated audience.
It would seem that the growing popularity of BBC Two’s hospital doc hadn’t affected Child Genius at all – the competitive thinking show managed the bizarre task of netting almost the exact same audience for the entirety of its five-week run.
The parent-pressure show opened up with 1.2 million and carried on that tradition all the way to last night’s grand finale, resulting in a 6% share and Channel 4’s biggest audience of the night.
Over on BBC Two, the third episode of Great Ormond Street (9pm) brought the third series to a close by taking a look at young patients suffering with brain complications.
The subjects in the touching documentary constantly surprise with their straightforward views about their situations, with the show’s audience growing in size over three weeks. 1.4 million viewers tuned in for the first episode, increasing to 1.7 million viewers and a 9% share.
ITV offered up something completely different with odd documentary Brits Behind Bars (9pm), a slightly troubling look at random British nationals serving time in prisons across the world. 1.8 million viewers tuned in to see desperate people insist on their innocence from far flung locales, resulting in a 9% share.
BBC One brought viewers the monthly Crimewatch (9pm) update with the lovely Kirsty Young, with the latest round of sad tales netting the biggest audience in its time slot with 3.4 million viewers and a 17% share.
There were more sorry tales of a different kind on Channel 5 with Benefits by the Sea: Jaywick (9pm) which brought in 904,000 viewers and a 5% share.
[advert position=”left”]Earlier at 8pm Holby City brought in 4.2 million viewers and a 22% share to BBC One, while The House That £100k Built was watched by 1.6 million viewers and a 9% share. On ITV, Love Your Garden secured 2.6 million and a 13% share while Channel 4’s The Three Day Nanny pulled in 975,000 and a 5% share.
At the same time, Channel 5 delivered its weekly dose of sickly pups in The Dog Rescuers with Alan Davies which was watched by 1.1 million and a 6% share, the broadcaster’s biggest hit of the day.
Of course, Tuesday’s soap offerings took the day’s top two spots as Emmerdale – the charming show about awful rural folk screwing each other over – netted 5.4 million viewers and a 31% share on ITV at 7pm.
But it was BBC One’s EastEnders (7:30pm) that took the top spot as Max Branning was charged with Lucy Beale’s murder, in the latest development in what has to be soapland’s most ambitious plot line ever.
6.3 million viewers watched as E20’s top shelf stud muffin was carted off in handcuffs, resulting in 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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