EastEnders plummets to 4.5m, Emmerdale secures the top spot
It’s a battle that’s been brewing in the air for quite some time but last night finally brought the ultimate smackdown between the UK’s less popular soaps.
ITV’s tale of everyday rural folk (wot murder a lot) Emmerdale (ITV, 7pm), has been antagonising BBC’s struggling London soap for a while now, regularly beating EastEnders (BBC One, 7:30pm) with its slightly less convoluted storylines.
With Coronation Street taking a break from the schedules for one night, conditions were perfect for the battle for the nation’s second favourite soap.
Competing soaps usually respect each other’s distance, sorting out a schedule that allows the viewer to consume all the soaps live, if they were that way inclined. But Tuesday night brought a deliberate rebuttal of the unspoken treaty with ITV airing an hour of ‘intense’ Emmerdale action.
Another boring Tuesday meant another life and death situation in the quaint community as 6.8 million viewers tuned in to see village cherub Kyle Wyatt get swept away by a suspiciously tame river. A 33% share tuned in to see rubbish mother Amy dramatically dive into the babbling brook, resulting in the day’s biggest audience.
There were no such natural dangers threatening the folk of Walford – the only peril faced by the characters of EastEnders all lies in the tired scriptwriting. Last night saw the show attempt to depress viewers into submission as David Wicks decided to take Carol out and celebrate little Billie’s birthday, reminding us all about his grim and pointless death a few years back.
Elsewhere, Janine was having some toddler and aqua-related problems of her own as her baby daughter waded towards a duck pond while E20’s panto villainess got a bit of shut eye in the park.
The pedestrian goings on (water-based danger is so much more exciting outside of an urban park) netted a new low of just 4.5 million viewers while contending with the second half of Emmerdale, resulting in a 21% share. Ah well, thank God for the iPlayer.
Straight afterwards on BBC Two, Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood were on tasting duties while Mel and Sue took full responsibility for the quips in the quarter finals of The Great British Bake Off (8pm). If that wasn’t enough entertainment on offer, there were even five nervous and sleep deprived souls on hand for additional value, competitively baking for the eighth week in a row.
The quarter finals managed to turn the show into the second biggest hit of the day, with 5.9 million viewers tuning in to see the latest bout of tears, nerves and botched creations, securing a 25% share.
Meanwhile on BBC One, Holby City (8pm) performed dutifully, with a consistent 4.5 million viewers watching as the 15th series came to a close after 52 episodes. Not to worry drama fans – series 16 kicks off next week. The latest spoke in the never-ending cycle brought in an 18% share.
Over on the commercial side of life, ITV offered viewers a chance to spend two hours in the company of life’s beautiful people while they interacted with regular normies and civilians.
The Daily Mirror Pride of Britain Awards 2013 (8pm) once again saw Carol Vorderman apply her mask and pretend to have an ounce of humility as she smiled at, touched and even hugged some of life’s unfortunates.
The manipulative and condescending thumbs up from the rich and famous to life’s true champions was lapped up by 4.5 million viewers and a 2% share. After The Great British Bake Off finished at 9pm, the biggest audience share raced over to ITV, helping the calculating awards show win the time slot.
All this left other more discerning viewers in a bit of a prime time quandary with an unbearable choice between Nick Knowles on BBC One and the Masters of Sex on Channel 4, although there are surely some out there that would confuse the two.
DIY SOS: The Big Build (9pm) saw Knowles, his stubble and some skilled tradesmen help a needy family trash their house and put it back together again (with a bit of fresh paint). The DIY do-goodery attracted an impressive 4 million viewers and an 18% share.
Noted thespian Michael Sheen showed up in his new American drama Masters of Sex at 9pm, with Newport’s favourite son playing a revolutionary sexual researcher in the 60s. The sleek drama secured Channel 4’s biggest audience of the day with 1.2 million viewers and a 6% 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.