Sexual chemistry in EastEnders secures Tuesday’s top spot
Tuesday’s television line-up saw audience interest peak in the early evening as the nation’s favourite second-rate soaps had a chance to shine.
With Coronation Street taking the night off, pre-watershed OTT dramatic duties were left in the very capable hands of the recently redeemed Emmerdale (ITV, 7pm) and everyone’s favourite trodden upon underdog, EastEnders (BBC One, 7:30pm).
Last night’s trip to the Dales didn’t see any explosions, murder plots or bouts of bed hopping but there was some wild pint action happening down the Woolpack, which falls into wish fulfilment territory for most people watching Emmerdale on a Tuesday night.
An audience of 6.2 million viewers tuned in to see the tale of everyday alcohol-dependent rural folk trying to make ends meet in the cut-throat world of small town agriculture. The sights of the newly arrived Barton clan settling into the village over a few pints netted a 31% share and Tuesday’s second biggest audience.
Straight afterwards over on EastEnders, the seasonal mid-week binge drinking continued with confidence as old flames David and Carol locked eyes on one another in the year’s first romantic meal to take place outside of the Queen Vic.
Conveniently located in a hotel, the episode saw the white wine do the trick as Carol and David decided to pay tribute to their complicated past with an intimate romp in a bargain suite.
6.7 million viewers watched with bated breath as the teatime horror show was averted, helping EastEnders net the day’s biggest audience with a 32% share.
The Walford soap’s victory was made all the more impressive considering it had to contend with ITV’s dark magic. The commercial broadcaster only went and aired a film on a Tuesday night (the madness!), signalling that the silly season is well and truly upon us.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (ITV, 7:30pm) (yes, the one where every character has fey Harry Styles-style luscious locks for some reason) managed to attract just over 3 million viewers into its vortex of sin and Satanism, with the three hour extravaganza netting a 14% share.
Not only that but Harry and his hair conditioned chums generated the most activity on Twitter, with a total of 20,639 tweets during broadcast.
Over on BBC One, Holby City (8pm) was back for another hour of disinfectant-reeking histrionics with the long-running drama continuing to prove itself to be a very sturdy vehicle for BBC One, bringing in a consistent audience. 4.3 million viewers watched the latest tale of personal and professional lives intertwine, resulting in a 20% share.
At the same time on BBC Two, Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood were back for a festive treat in The Great British Bake Off Christmas Special (8pm). All those elements you love from the actual show – crazy characters, gripping tension and surprise twists – were noticeable by their absence as the programme basically consisted of Mary and Paul having a natter, intercut with those boring historical cutaways.
A still notable 2.9 million viewers (a 14% share) watched the sobering master class, providing BBC Two with its biggest hit of the day.
Later at 9pm, BBC One’s runaway hit about two loved-up septuagenarians – Last Tango in Halifax – once again won over the prime time slot, bringing in 5.9 million viewers and a 24% share.
At the same time on Channel 4, Heston Blumenthal was tinkering about with the classic roast beef dinner in Heston’s Great British Food. 1.2 million viewers watched as the chef destroyed another classic, resulting in a 5% share.
Over on BBC Two, Simon Reeve’s last leg of his gap year pilgrimage saw the presenter enter the Holy Land. The appropriately titled Pilgrimage with Simon Reeve captured 1.4 million viewers and a 6% share.
Meanwhile, psychopathic and unhinged ‘best boss in the world’ Nev was back for a seasonal edition of The Call Centre (BBC Three, 9pm) as he once again forced his staff to feign happiness (while pretending it was in fact Christmas) for the free promotional piece from the BBC.
675,000 viewers decided to drink the cool aid and join Nev’s vision of a perma-smiling workplace, netting a 3% share and generating a peak of 179 tweets per minute.
The Social TV Analytics report is a daily leaderboard displaying the latest social TV analytics Twitter data from SecondSync. The table shows the top UK TV shows as they are mentioned on Twitter, which MediaTel has correlated with the BARB overnight programme ratings for those shows (only viewable to BARB subscribers).
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.