Silent Witness wraps up another successful series on BBC One
After ten episodes of atmospherically-lit slaughtering spread out over five weeks, Tuesday night finally brought an end to Silent Witness’ current killing spree, as BBC One’s long-running favourite proved there is plenty of life in the wrong ‘un yet.
A now-traditional staple to the start of a gloomy New Year schedule, the ongoing adventures in grimy carcass sifting hasn’t suffered from continuous cast changes unlike so many other contemporaries.
This year’s assortment of bi-weekly two part episodes got under way on 3 January, with the tale of the dead-DJ-in-the-bath securing 6.5 million viewers. This rose to 6.7 million viewers for the second part the following evening, keeping it consistent with the show’s début episodes from the past few years.
Last night saw Dr Nikki and her team of interchangeable men continue to investigate the case of a family riddled with bullets while picnicking, throwing up the usual twists and turns that seemingly keeps viewers glued.
Monday night’s introduction to the case secured 5.8 million viewers, with yesterday’s wrap up securing a more standard 6.3 million viewers as the final episode of decomposed stinky sleuthing netted a 26% share for BBC One.[advert position=”left”]
On BBC Two, the bizarre but entertaining adventures of retirees abroad returned for a second episode as elder celebrities in The Real Marigold Hotel (9pm) continued to embrace their new lives in Indian.
Opening last week with 3 million viewers, the second of three episodes actually improved on that, with scenes of the eight retirees visiting a psychic, getting a too-close-for-comfort-shave and visiting the Taj Mahal bagging 3.2 million viewers and a 13% share.
Meanwhile, ITV was having a cheap and cheerful night in with the dashboard cam clip show Car Crash Britain: Caught on Camera (9pm).
An audience of 2.2 million viewers joined Jamie Theakston as he narrated his way through interviews and slow-mo accidents, resulting in a 9% share.
Channel 4’s winning combination of intense medical drama and fluffy critters, The Supervet (9pm), returned for a fourth series. 1.1 million viewers tuned in to be equally traumatised and elated throughout the hour of pioneering doggy/moggy procedures, resulting in a 5% share.
Over on Channel 5, TOWIE ‘star’, I’m a Celebrity… drop-out and all-round professional oxygen thief Gemma Collins got ejected from the Celebrity Big Brother house at 9pm, with the latest slice of sound bite, general noise and flashing lights netting 2.1 million viewers and a 9% share.
Earlier at 8pm, Holby City‘s (BBC One) newest member of staff showed up via the highly dramatic medium of an ambulance, with 4.4 million viewers and a 21% share tuning in to see Jemma Redgrave’s début as a snooty surgeon.
At the same time, BBC Two continued to milk a surely-done-to-death Giles Coren-fronted ‘time travelling’ format, this time skipping meals to look at what leisure time used to look like. Back in Time for the Weekend (9pm) saw another family embarrassing themselves in the name of education resulting in 2.4 million viewers and an 11% share.
On ITV, Sugar Free Farm brought more unintentional laughs as our six celebrities attempted to survive a fourth day of physical labour and depressingly healthy food.
Last week, 3 million viewers tuned in to see a Brookside/glamour model hybrid collapse due to a shortage of smarties in her system, with last night’s sugar crash tantrums resulting in 2.8 million viewers and a 13% share.
On Channel 4, The Secret Life of the Zoo bagged 1.9 million viewers and a 9% at 8pm. While Channel 5’s Bargain Loving Brits in the Sun brought in 825,000 viewers and a 4% share.
The latest bleak sadness from the Yorkshire Dales bagged 5.9 million viewers on ITV at 7pm, with Emmerdale securing the day’s second biggest audience and a 30% share.
BBC One’s EastEnders took Tuesday’s top spot at 7:30pm, with the soap’s long-suffering whipping girl, Ronnie Mitchell, dealing with some more awful life decisions, netting 6.6 million viewers and a 32% 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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