ITV’s Poirot nets 4.4m for second week running
Wednesday’s thrilling prime time line up saw one half of a MasterChef, Gregg Wallace, watch supermarket pies being made as part of his inside look at the UK’s biggest food retailers on BBC One.
Wallace’s ‘access all areas’ insights also included insiders filling viewers in on where exactly the meat for the supermarkets own brand budget pies really comes from (hint: a galaxy far, far away) and the corners that are cut to bring in cheaper alternatives.
Autumn’s Supermarket Secrets (9pm) mightn’t exactly have been the thrill ride viewers were looking for in the midweek schedule but nonetheless, 3.8 million viewers (a 17% share) tuned in to see Wallace turn his Excitement Dial all the way up to ‘unrealistic’ as he visited a warehouse for an online supermarket.
Over on BBC Two Mark and Jeremy the Ambassadors (9pm) had to deal with a difficult minor royal on a visit to the fictional country of Tazbekistan.
The understated comedy series saw a tiny drop in popularity since last week’s opening episode; a fall of 200,000 viewers meant a total of 1 million people tuned in to see the inefficient diplomat’s latest caper. Tom Hollander’s appearance as the problematic Price Mark helped the show gain an audience share of 1.2%.
Over on Channel 4, the narrative crutch of the ‘current financial climate’ seems to have been finally dropped at long last with the 13th series of Grand Design (9pm) featuring even grander designs with each episode.
Last night’s lavish escapade saw a couple attempting to meld a working farm in Newbury into a modern urban build with its own micro-brewery – because popping out for a beer is for peasants.
Channel 4’s biggest audience of the day tuned in for the grand tour, securing 2.4 million viewers and an 11% share.
At the exact same time, Channel 5 stepped up to the plate and gave viewers a chance to learn about the complexities of the modern social condition in the poignant and thoughtful I Lost Weight but Lost My Husband (9pm).
One of those lovely niche ‘documentaries’ in which the title informs the viewer everything they could possible need to know so no one else has to, the life-affirming programme managed 972,000 viewers, a 4% share and resulted in Channel 5’s biggest hit of the day.
ITV’s grand prime time offering came in the feature-length portly shape of Agatha Christie’s Poirot at 8pm. After solving 68 murders spread over thirteen series, last night’s mystery was the third to last episode ever as a murder mystery weekend turned into – would you Adam and Eve it? – an actual crime scene.
As David Suchet has been playing the character since 1988, the show has built up a solid following over the past 24 years making each new release something of a guaranteed hit for ITV – the fact that we’re in the last ever series can only help.
Fans of the impish investigator certainly proved to be a dedicated bunch – the exact same amount of viewers that welcomed the Belgium detective back last week returned for Wednesday night’s Dead Man’s Folly.
4.4 million viewers watched as Hercule Poirot once again teamed up with his friend with benefits, mystery novelist Ariadne Oliver. A average share of 20% meant that the moustachioed sleuth managed to hold onto the biggest audience during its two hour run.
Head Watchdog Anne Robinson and her team of condescending runts brought in 4.3 million viewers (a 19% share) for BBC One at 8pm while Autumnwatch warmed the cockles of 2 million viewers on BBC Two at the same time.
A little while earlier, Coronation Street‘s (ITV, 7:30pm) pulling power remained unperturbed as the day’s biggest audience tuned in to see if Hayley was dead yet. Elsewhere, characters were still banging on about a smashed window, harking back to the simpler storylines of yesteryear.
8.1 million viewers watched the Weatherfield drama, bringing in a 37% share while Emmerdale scored the number two position at 7pm with an audience of 6.7 million.
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.