Docusoaps go full circle as ITV’s Heathrow nets 9pm slot
Nineteen years after the BBC blew away unsuspecting viewers minds with the transgressive yet landmark docusoap Airport, last night saw primetime TV cautiously return to Heathrow Airport in an attempt to milk some more drama from the bustling transportation hub.
The main problem facing ITV’s three part series, Britain’s Busiest Airport – Heathrow (9pm), is that in the intervening years since Airport went off the air, almost every corner of British life and subculture has provided cheap fodder for lethargic producers.
The commercial broadcaster’s new show followed the exact same formula of every other workplace documentary before, clearly signposting ‘serious’ and ‘incidental’ moments with appropriate music while the ‘characters’ got on with their mundane jobs with a TV-friendly lightness.
Despite bringing nothing new to the table, the aerodynamic excitement managed to secure the 9pm slot, but it was a bit of a slow night.
An audience of 3 million viewers tuned in to see just how much effort is needed behind the scenes, resulting in a 16% share.
Things weren’t much more exciting over on BBC One, as viewers were treated to another informative and ‘fun’ look at health matters in The Truth About Your Teeth (9pm), the latest instalment of the schedule-filling series ‘exposing’ the hard facts.
Dr Chris van Tulleken, that polite and well-educated young man that your mum probably finds agreeable, was back to host another no holds barred look at a specific area of health, this time tackling gingivitis and what not.
This time the good doctor had some help from Jasmine Harman, a presenter once banished to haunt daytime TV foreign property shows for eternity, who finally broke through to the mainstream evening schedule.
An audience of 2.9 million viewers tuned in for 60 minutes of dental sound bites featuring one woman who has cleverly avoided dentists her whole life by gluing her teeth back in to her mouth, resulting in a 15% share.
Over on BBC Two, confusing paranoid 70s-set spy thriller The Game (9pm) came to an end after six moody episodes. Coming off like a try-hard studious version of Spooks, the cloak and dagger series detailed a secret war been fought by the shadowy men and women of MI5 and took in an audience of 1.6 when it first aired.
Last night’s grand finale secured 1.3 million viewers and a 7% share.
There was a more sombre mood on Channel 4 in the first of three instalments of the touching Dementiaville (9pm), a documentary about a care home that encourages its patients to get lost in their happy memories.
A little over 1 million viewers tuned in to see the results of the unorthodox methods that allow sufferers to revel in the past, netting a 5% share.
There was some more mental instability on Channel 5, as the house mates on Big Brother continued to gyrate away all the good in the world with the usual serving of selfishness and hysterics. An audience of 928,000 tuned in to the social experiment to learn some truths about the nature of humanity, resulting in a 5% share.
At 8pm, the BBC was doing okay with Watchdog (BBC One) bringing in 3.2 million viewers and a 17% share while Springwatch 2015 was watched by 2.2 million viewers and a 12% share on BBC Two.
A little earlier a drunken Laurel announced to the village that her ex-husband Ashley didn’t survive his accident on Emmerdale (ITV), only he did.
5.2 million viewers and a 32% share tuned at 7pm, falling to 5 million viewers and a 27% share for the episode at 8pm.
Sandwiched in between on BBC One was the latest drama from Walford as little Cindy went a bit nuts and threatened to tell a social worker all about that stressful thirtieth anniversary week. EastEnders (8:30pm) brought in Thursday’s biggest audience with 5.9 million viewers and a 33% 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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