Return of crying celebrity show WDYTYA? nets 9pm slot for BBC One
Thursday night brought back BBC One’s long-running, and sometimes, crowd pleaser Who Do You Think You Are? (9pm) for a twelfth series as scary blue-eyed baking evaluator Paul Hollywood stepped up to the carousel of painful memories for the nation’s pleasure.
Even though the genealogy show is a bit long in the tooth at this stage, the returning favourite still managed to net the biggest audience in its time slot despite offering up more of the same.
Last year, 4.6 million viewers tuned in to see Julie Walter’s head over to Ireland for a bit of a teary whinge, with this year’s opening episode not doing so well.
4.1 million tuned in to see the Hollwoods relax at home before setting out on the tearful odyssey, proving that even Paul Hollywood isn’t impervious to all those irrepressible emotions.
Kind of like ITV’s Long Lost Family but without the awkward reunions, an audience share of 21% tuned in to see the master baker regularly having a little cry when (it’s kind of rude not to on this show) uncovering details of his grandfather’s experiences in the Second World War.
Over on BBC Two it was time to wrap up the sea-based fun that was Atlantic: The Wildest Ocean on Earth after three impressive episodes. An audience of 1.6 million viewers and an 8% share tuned in to see life in the more tropical areas, offering up many impressive images.
On ITV, Julia Bradbury continued to wander around the UK in The Wonder of Britain (9pm), cobbling together light and breezy pieces-to-camera that would fit well in the realms of Countryfile. The Sunday afternoon family fare didn’t sit well in the glare of the prime time light however, netting 1.1 million viewers and a 5% share.
Things were even worse over on Channel 4 as the painful, pointless and ill thought-out Very British Problems (9pm) made everyone involved look like a tool of epic proportions.
Exactly like those easy-to-produce talking head shows that clogged up the schedules in the early noughties, the programme featured a plethora of surprisingly well-known faces attempting to create a contrived narrative of ‘issues we all face’, apparently.
1.7 million viewers tuned in to see James Cordon (thanks America, btw), Jonathan Ross, Stephen Mangan and Nigel Havers (for good measure) sit about and invents problems that don’t actually exist. The manufactured issues – basically one of those inane BuzzFeed lists made real – netted a 9% share.
Meanwhile, Channel 5 once again invited viewers to sneer at obese people in the latest edition of Supersized (9pm), bringing in 854,000 viewers and a 4% share.
Earlier in the day Matt Allwright was back doing his pandering thing in The Housing Enforcers (8pm) which bagged 2.6 million viewers and a 13% share while Coast (8pm) on BBC Two enticed 1.6m million viewers and an 8% share to its calming shores.
The latest edition celebrity cringe-fest Flockstars (8pm) netted 2.2 million for ITV, while the bantz provided by Kirstie and Phil on Channel 4’s Location, Location, Location secured 1.7 million viewers and a 9% share.
At the same time Channel 5 was busy staring down caverns in Sinkholes: Buried Alive (8pm) as the shocking footage was watched by 1.3 million viewers and a 7% share.
After last week’s cast cull (helicopters and weddings are not a good mix), there was plenty of drama to be had in the fiery aftermath as ITV provided a double helping of Emmerdale‘s brand of free-range drama.
[advert position=”left”]The 7pm visit to the narcotics-flooded rural ideal brought in 6 million viewers and a 33% share while the second trip at 8pm secured 5.6 million and a 28% share, netting the day’s top two spots.
There was more snotty and tearful shouting matches over on EastEnders at 7:30pm on BBC One as the Beale’s year continued to get even worse. 5.3 million watched as the family turned on each other resulting in a 28% 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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