Latest Sheridan Smith drama Black Work is a Sunday hit for ITV
Last night saw ITV reorganise its Sunday evening defences with the recent ending of the well-received Home Fires providing an opportunity for the commercial broadcaster to launch another solid drama to bring the week to a close.
With the war time WI drama securing solid ratings for the past six weeks (last Sunday brought in 4.9 million viewers for the finale), formulaic northern cop thriller Black Work (ITV, 9pm) was expected to fill a pretty big void, especially given the lacklustre and under -performing options on the BBC.
Thankfully, then, Black Work had Sheridan Smith on its side. The insanely popular actress has been grafting away on stage and screen for many years now but has been popping up on (mostly ITV) dramas with frightening regularity, thanks to her recent turns as Mrs Biggs and Cilla.
Yesterday’s first of three episodes saw Sheridan go down the ‘strong, confident and complicated’ route as a police officer whose life unravels when her copper husband is murdered, revealing a web of secret undercover work, family surveillance, lies and the rest.
Yesterday’s biggest prime time audience tuned in to see Smith’s now-single mother smell something fishy once her bosses asked her not to mention her husband’s passing to anyone, forcing the grieving PD into stealthy action.
An impressive début audience of 5.8 million viewers were won over by the Leeds based drama, resulting in a 27% share for ITV.
Sunday night’s other successful drama, Humans (9pm), went out on Channel 4 as those creepy household ‘synths’ continued to skulk their way into every aspect of life.
The second episode of the American/British remake of a 2012 Scandinavian TV show fell by -21% week on week, with the tale of eerie domestic skivvys managing 2.7 million viewers and a 12% share after securing 3.4 million viewers last week.
Meanwhile on BBC One the grand inertia of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (9pm) continued, with the seventh and penultimate episode of the magical period adventure still not exactly setting the TV schedule on fire.
Opening with 4.5 million viewers a few weeks back, the following instalments saw a steady loss of interest from Sunday night audiences.
Yesterday’s slice of madness saw Bertie Carvel’s Jonathan Strange intentionally attempting to become insane in order to learn the secrets of fairy magic (obviously), with just 1.6 million viewers and a 7% share still on board for the second to last episode.
At the same time on BBC Two was the second and final part of Jonathan Dimbleby’s The BBC at War (9pm) with the definitive history of wartime broadcasting securing 944,000 viewers and a 4% share.
Almost as disturbing was the latest slice of reality over on Channel 5 as the house mates on Big Brother (9pm) continued to let their personalities shine, all for the nation’s entertainment. 1 million viewers and a 5% share caught up with the latest ‘action’, providing the channel’s biggest hit of the day.
Earlier in the day BBC One scored big, with the steadfast double bill of Countryfile (7pm) and Antiques Roadshow (8pm) securing 5.3 million viewers (a 31% share) and 5.1 million viewers (a 26% share), respectively.
Over on ITV, Holly Willoughby mashed together the sentiments of Long Lost Family and Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway to get the off live studio audience and celebrity experience that is the modern version of Surprise, Surprise (8pm).
Holly’s totally first rate matey routine helped bring in 3.7 million viewers and a 19% share.
Earlier in the day, Formula 1: Austrian Grand Prix Highlights (5pm) also kept BBC One afloat with 3.1 million viewers and a 23% 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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