Quiet season sees Benidorm continue to lose viewers
After a bit of a rough start, last night brought another instalment of packaged holiday farce Benidorm (ITV, 9pm), with the eighth series’ second episode continuing the trend of diminishing returns.
Perhaps it’s down to the fact that the low-concept comedy, by its very nature, had a short lifespan or maybe it’s a result of the revolving door cast policy but ultimately it seems that comedian Derren Litten’s show about everyday folk escaping it all has had its day in the sun.
Opening with an audience of 5.1 million in February 2007, the broad comedy stylings of stereotypical British holiday makers remained consistently popular over the years.
Last week saw a brand new family, the Dawsons, take centre stage in Solana Hotel’s many silly goings on, with 4.6 million viewers joining in on the skin-peeling entertainment. While that represented a -15% year on year fall, last night brought some more bad news with the current episode reporting a week on week fall of -15%.
In total, 3.9 million viewers tuned in to see oily Lothario Mateo drop a clatter of innuendo bombs while demonstrating a poolside Heimlich manoeuvre, resulting in a 17% share for ITV.
But it wasn’t just Benidorm that was suffering from the Monday blues, even BBC One’s unkillable show, Silent Witness (9pm) was shedding a viewer or two.
Yesterday saw the fifth episode in the corpse-poking drama’s 19th series kicked off a fresh new case, featuring a brand new decomposing guest star.
The current run debuted with 6.5 million viewers two short weeks ago, brightening up viewers’ lives on both a Monday and Tuesday evenings and has remained consistently strong so far this series.
Yesterday, however, brought the first significant fall in popularity as forensic scientists Nikki, Thomas and Jack investigated the savage murder of a child killer, with the as-cheerful-as-ever episode securing 5.7 million viewers and a 25% share.
Over on BBC Two, frizzy haired historian Joann Fletcher was back wandering sandy plains with her sun umbrella in the third and penultimate episode of Immortal Egypt with Joann Fletcher (9pm).
1.2 million viewers (a 5% share) tuned in to hear tales of power and the cultural influence of ancient Egypt reaching its height, all before a pesky conflict between priests and Pharaohs saw it all come crumbling down.
On Channel 4, a fresh batch of love-seeking hopefuls helped The Undateables (9pm) net 1.7 million viewers and a 7% share while the latest departure from Celebrity Big Brother (9pm) on Channel 5 brought in 2 million viewers and a 9% share.
At 8pm, Channel 4 and one of those omnipresent van Tulleken brothers brought another episode of How to Lose Weight Well, with 60 minutes of stating the obvious resulting in 1.9 million viewers and an 8% share.
At the same time, BBC Two’s double whammy of intellect saw University Challenge bag 3 million viewers at 8pm, while Only Connect at 8:30pm was watched by 2.5 million viewers.[advert position=”left”]
At 8pm, comedian Griff Rhys Jones once again took ITV’s dreaded in-between-the-soaps spot with another random and light-hearted travelogue show, with Griff’s Great Britain bringing in 3.1 million viewers and a 14% share.
Speaking of which, the soaps nabbed Monday’s top spots early in the evening schedule with Emmerdale kicking things off with 6.6 million and a 33% share at 7pm.
The first of two Coronation Street (ITV) visits at 7:30pm took the number one spot with 7.7 million viewers and a 36% share as Carla Connor (forever the scriptwriters whipping boy) experienced yet another rubbish night on the cobbles.
The latest violent assault to befall Weatherfield’s glamorous entrepreneur at 8:30pm helped bring in 7 million viewers and a 30% share.
EastEnders secured the number two spot for BBC One at 8pm, with the latest drama surrounding Phil Mitchell’s liver damage pulling in 7.1 million viewers and a 31% 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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