Golly! Downton Abbey’s shock horror show secures 7.7m on ITV
After lulling viewers into a comforting sense of familiar calm for four weeks now, last night’s trip to Downton Abbey (10pm) had a deliciously nasty and grotesque surprise in store for fans, ensuring that those recurrent dinner scenes will never been seen in the same way again.
It’s usually pretty hard to find a direct connection between the genteel period drama and 1979’s cinematic stand out Alien but things definitely went a bit John Hurt, as his Lordship the Earl of Grantham (the tubby bloke from Paddington) spewed blood all over his dinner guests.
Despite throwing in the random homage to The Excorcist, even the most simple of viewers should have seen this coming – after all the gods of foreshadowing have been heavily focusing on Bob Crawley’s frightful stitch and his inability to drink port since the final series kicked off.
The break from predictable calm seemed to do the job for ITV, with 7.7 million viewers tuning in to be jolted awake at nearly 10pm on a Sunday evening, encouraging the Twitter-inclined to generate nearly 16,000 tweets on the bloody matter.
Earlier in the weekend, the first Rugby World Cup game coverage got under way at 3pm on ITV, as 3.7 million viewers watched as South Africa challenged Wales, resulting in a 28% share. Later at 7:30pm, New Zealand and France went head to head and secured a Saturday evening audience of 4 million viewers and a 20% share.
At the same time, BBC One was free to scoop up all the worn out non-rugby fans in need of something a little different with the latest one way trip to the land of sparkles and smiles that are held for way too long.
Saturday’s slice of Strictly Come Dancing (6:30pm) brought in a whopping 9.7 million viewers and a 46% share, the biggest audience of the entire weekend.
Afterwards at 8:20pm sullen Scottish Time Lord Doctor Who (BBC One) kicked off another two part adventure with help from Game of Thrones‘ murderous moppet Maisie Williams. 4.9 million viewers and a 23% share climbed aboard the TARDIS, a slight improvement after the worrying low ratings the cosmic show has been pulling in so far this series.
At 9:10pm, Casualty once again performed admirably with 4.6 million viewers and a 23% share.
There was plenty more Rugby World Cup action on Sunday afternoon with the sights of Argentina destroying Ireland from 12:25pm on ITV, securing 3.1 million viewers and a 29% share. Later at 3:15pm the clash between Australia and Scotland did better with 4.5 million viewers and a 29% share.
Meanwhile, BBC One offered up Countryfile Autumn Special at 6:15pm, with the team taking a hard hitting look at the reality of a new season, resulting in 6.9 million viewers and a 36% share.
In an attempt to counteract all that empty hoopla, ITV aired neglected reality soap The X Factor (7pm) with Simon Cowell still busy milking every last drop of drama from the soul destroying ‘Six Chair Challenge’.
7.4 million viewers tuned in for two hours of watching young hopefuls break down crying as their dreams were crushed in crueller ways than usual, netting a 31% share.
[advert position=”left”]Because repetitiveness is apparently key to a healthy weekend schedule, there was another 45 minutes of Strictly Come Dancing on BBC One at 7:15pm, with 8.8 million viewers and a 36% share tuning in to see wee Daniel getting the boot.
Antiques Roadshow followed at 8pm and was watched by 6 million viewers and a 25% share and led into something completely different.
Out-bleaking all of its current ‘tortured detective’ rivals, the third episode of From Darkness, the draining crime drama that dares you to end your weekend in its company, secured 3.2 million viewers and a 14% share while all that projectile blood was going on over on ITV.
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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