Quiet night of TV sees Jo Brand dominate with Sport Relief
Thursday brought a fairly underwhelming TV line-up for the nation’s prime time viewers with a mixture of lightweight fare failing to secure significant audiences.
BBC One did manage to secure the biggest hit in the timeslot, with the broadcasters bringing one last warm-up for Sport Relief 2016 before this weekend’s big blow out.
Jo Brand’s Hell of a Walk for Sport Relief documented the comedian and presenter’s gallant effort to inspire middle-aged women to take part, taking on a seven-day 135-mile journey from the Humber Bridge to Liverpool.
In fairness, the main attraction wasn’t the challenge itself but how Brand would deal with the exhaustion, media attention and blisters in her trademark self-deprecating style. In total, an audience of 3.1 million viewers tuned in to watch Brand sweat for the little children, resulting in a 16% share.
The non-event that was yesterday’s line-up was good news for Channel 4 which managed to bag the second biggest audience at 9pm with Speed with Guy Martin (9pm).
Unfortunately not a drug-fuelled racing spree featuring the mopped-head motorcycle racer but basically a big promo piece for this weekend’s F1 début for the broadcaster after BBC One pulled out of its contract three years early.
2.4 million viewers tuned in for some Top Gear-lite fun, with the top-notch banter between Martin and David Coulthard helping secure a 12% share.
Over on ITV, the second series of Bear Grylls’ super serious celebrity game show about life and death continued, with last night seeing the contestants picking pretty – but possibly DEADLY – fauna to nibble on.
The third instalment of Bear Grylls: Mission Survive (9pm) saw rations running low in the African bush as one of their group was forced to fake a critical injury to spice things up a bit.
The first piss-swilling episode brought in 2.7 million viewers but pumped-up Duke of Edinburgh Award has been on a downward spiral ever since, with last night’s ’emergency’ securing 1.9 million viewers and a 10% share.
At the same time was Channel 5’s ‘homage’ to Channel 4’s successful 24 Hours in A&E, Trauma Doctors (9pm), although in fairness these bunch of TV doctors have helicopters! 916,000 viewers tuned in to see the healers of the sky attempt to deal with a myriad of incidents around London, resulting in a 5% share.
BBC Two brought the third and final instalment of Murder (9pm), the refreshingly different addition to a tired and overworked genre. The twist here is that the victims and criminals speak directly to the camera (because, why not at this stage of the game?) bringing an uncomfortable intimacy to proceedings.
Following a one-off episode in 2012, the new series kicked off with 1.1 million viewers before falling to 517,000 the following week. Last night’s tale of violence and its repercussions saw the audience fall to 273,000 (a 1% share), a whopping -74% drop since the first episode.
There wasn’t much more excitement at 8pm, with The Secret History of My Family securing 1.1 million for BBC One, while Channel 4’s Ugly House to Lovely House with George Clarke netted 1.8 million.
On Channel 5 there was Budgies Make You Laugh Out Loud which brought in 375,000 viewers, while camp-as-Christmas workplace doc The Cruise was watched by 2.7 million viewers and a 13% share.
There was an explosion of soapy frothiness earlier on with a double trip to Emmerdale netting 5.4 and 5.2 million viewers at 7pm and 8pm, respectively. In between at 7:30pm, anti-Paddy’s Day buzzkill Alcohol – How Much Is Too Much?: Tonight (ITV) pulled in 2.5 million sober souls.
On BBC One, EastEnders scored the day’s top spot at 7:30pm with 6.3 million viewers and a 32% share while the 8:30pm episode saw viewers fall to 5.5 million and a 25% 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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