Creepy C4 drama Humans wraps up and secures a 2nd series
Sunday evening brought an end to Channel 4’s ‘alternative present’ suburban sci-fi drama series Humans (9pm) as the joint venture with American cable network AMC (Breaking Bad, Mad Men) saw the ‘Synth’ saga reach an emotional conclusion.
Set in a plausible version of London where the latest must-have gadget is a domestic synthetic helper, the paranoid and tense tale focused on the Synths’ integration into everyday life and the general air of creepiness they inspire in the less trusting characters.
Of course it wasn’t long before the aesthetically pleasing artificial humanoids were acting a little strangely, dreaming of freedom and fending off a little too much attention from frustrated husbands.
Based on the 2012 cult Swedish series Real Humans, the localised (and finely retuned) version opened up with 3.4 million but progressively fell over the next eight weeks as the ever-increasingly complicated storyline became a little harder to follow for casual viewers.
Last night’s grand finale saw the renegade androids make a dangerous play for a chance at real consciousness and was watched by 2.2 million viewers, the broadcaster’s biggest hit of the day.
While it didn’t manage to secure its original audience all the way through, the eerie drama was a hit with critics and Twitter users alike, resulting in an 11% share and a promise of a second series from Channel 4 and AMC.
Despite the buzz on Channel 4, it was BBC One’s old school camp fest that won the biggest 9pm audience as David Walliams and Jessica Raine returned for the second episode of Partners in Crime.
After opening up with an impressive 6.5 million viewers last week, yesterday’s sophomore instalment saw dull married couple Tommy and Tuppence delve further into the murky 1950s world of silly sleuthing and crap clandestine disguises but suffered a worrying week on week fall of -22%.
5 million viewers tuned in for the latest Agatha Christie adaptation, resulting in a 24% share and still managing to secure its timeslot.
On BBC Two, tense American conspiracy drama Odyssey (9pm) continued to throw out plot-advancing curveballs as the low-rent version of Homeland netted 1.1 million viewers and a 5% share.
At the same time on Channel 5, it was time for the concluding half of this weekend’s big TV gamble, Tut (9pm). Starring Ben Kingsley and some kid, the first two and a half hours of sandal-sponsored scheming debuted on Saturday night to an audience of 859,000 viewers.
The epic production saw a minute fall in interest by the time it rolled back around last night with 734,000 viewers tuning in to see how the big budgeted epic wrapped up, resulting in a 5% share.
[advert position=”left”]Meanwhile, it seemed that ITV had decided to call it a day and went out to enjoy the weather with an extremely uninspired Sunday prime time line up. 8pm brought a repeat of Midsomer Murders, just in case anyone missed the thrilling episode when it originally aired back in January of this year.
2.1 million viewers tuned in to learn that maybe it’s not the best idea to have a crime writing festival somewhere as unbelievably cursed as Midsomer, with ‘death by electrocuted roulette wheel’ bringing in a 10% share.
Earlier at 7pm, BBC One’s golden gang were back for another fun adventure, with this week’s Countryfile fun based around those fluffy farm critters, the humble sheep.
Of course, Sunday’s biggest audience tuned in to see Adam, Tom, Joe and Anita jump head first into the livestock lark, bagging 5.6 million viewers and a 33% share in the process.
Afterwards, and just as exciting, was a repeat of Fake or Fortune? (BBC One, 8pm) as Fiona Bruce attempted to wrestle a worn-out TV audience into submission with another thrilling tale of art forensics.
4.5 million viewers tuned in to see if the latest batch of dusty relics was worth our time and attention, resulting in a 23% share.
On BBC Two, the sourpuss super team of Dragons’ Den assembled to pass on some silly ideas, netting 3 million viewers and a 15% share.
On Channel 4 there was the latest Experimental (8pm)- a show that so badly wants to fill that Top Gear-shaped hole in people’s lives, and somehow manages to be just as contrived. An audience of 625,000 viewers tuned in for banter that makes those Made in Chelsea chit-chats look positively authentic, netting Channel 4 a 3% 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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