Grantchester falls by -9% but still bags 9pm slot for ITV
ITV’s tranquil period murder drama Grantchester managed to secure the 9pm slot last night, as the second instalment of the sophomore series seeing the show throw caution to the wind and delve into full Morse mode.
Yesterday’s trip to the nostalgic middle-England rural ideal saw handsome-vicar-wot-sometimes-takes-his-top-off-when-not-solving-crimes-or-not-holding-mass, Reverend Sidney Chambers (James Norton – that rapist from Happy Valley), investigate the death of a Cambridge academic, with a little help from his loyal Geordie friend, DI Geordie Keating (Robson Green).
When not chasing down clues, uncovering spy networks and exposing all sorts of general skulduggery, Wednesday’s trip to the selectively picturesque county saw Sidney and Geordie double-dating, with poor Sidney’s heart being torn between two dolly birds of the day.
The crime solving drama returned last week to the tune of 5 million viewers, which was down slightly from the show’s début in October 2014 but improved upon the series one finale which netted 4.6 million viewers.
Yesterday’s case about the free-climbing adrenaline-addicted professor who fell the spire of King’s College Chapel (or DID he?!) brought a week on week fall of -9%, with the unavoidable interrogations and Sidney’s tortured love life bringing in a total of 4.6 million viewers and a 22% share.
Meanwhile, BBC One’s prime time offering was certainly less frothy, as selfless celebrities idle BBC employees came from far and wide to take part in Famous, Rich and Homeless (9pm) as part of the corporation’s overall Sport Relief drive.
The second series of the experiment saw her off Countryfile, Julia Bradbury, ex-snooker player Willie Thorne, presenter Nick Hancock and reality TV cleaner (it’s a thing) Kim Woodburn all attempt to sleep rough in London for a week.
An audience of 3.6 million viewers tuned in to see Thorne seemingly miss the point and check into a hotel for a spell, netting a 17% audience share and prompting over 4,000 tweets.
Things got even heavier over on BBC Two as the family of victims came forward to share their experience in Dunblane: Our Story at 9pm.
The harrowingly raw documentary caught up with survivors and parents of those affected in order to mark the 20th anniversary of the primary school massacre, bringing in 1.1 million viewers and a 5% share.
On Channel 4, there were more life-threatening injuries sutured up as entertainment on the latest episode of 24 Hours in A&E (9pm), with 1.5 million viewers tuning in to see if a five year old child hit by a car would make it, drawing in a 7% share.
On Channel 5, there were more scenes of real life squabbles on a new series of Nightmare Tenants, Slum Landlords at 9pm, with the parade of dodgy characters from both sides of the letting divide bringing in 1 million viewers and a 5% share.
There was an explosion of consumer content at 8pm, with BBC One’s Shop Well For Less? bagging 4.6 million viewers, BBC Two’s The £100K House: Tricks of the Trade securing a lowers 1.4 million viewers while constructed reality of Posh Pawn brought in 880,000 viewers. [advert position=”left”]
The ultimate horror of ITV’s contrived cuteness show Big Star’s Little Star was watched by 3.6 million viewers and an 18% share while Channel 5’s GPs: Behind Closed Doors netted 1.1 million and a 5% share.
But before all the prime time shows rolled onto our screen, ITV’s teatime soaps had already secured the day’s top figures with Yorkshire soap Emmerdale (7pm) securing 5.8 million viewers and a 31% share while Coronation Street (7:30pm) took pole position with 6.6 million viewers and a 33.1% 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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