The Widower increases audience each week, bows out with 5.3m
Monday’s prestigious 9pm line-up was a cluster of finales with both BBC One and ITV saying goodbye forever to well-performing dramas, while BBC Two’s latest factual walk through the past also saw fit to slam shut the door on our bloody history.
After three series Peter Moffat’s legal drama about barristers struggling to reach a healthy work/life balance (think This Life if they hadn’t sat around smoking funny stuff all the time), Silk (BBC One, 9pm) came to a close as Martha Costello QC’s (Maxine Peak) last ever case saw her defend her feckless ex-boyfriend in a murder case.
The final case (although sadly for fans, the writers weren’t aware of this at the time) provided plenty of twisty-turny fun, but acted as more of a cliff-hanger than giving viewers proper closure. Perhaps Silk has been putting a foot wrong all series – once considered an impressive study in the realities of law, there have been whispers of discontent recently as viewers slowly disappeared.
In February 2011, the first ever episode brought in 5.3 million viewers, with the second series averaging at around 5.6 million per episode. The third series brought in 4.7 million in February this year but this time around the audience became sporadic, hovering just above the 3 million mark.
Yesterday’s final saw a bit of a return to form with 4 million viewers tuning in to BBC One to be robbed of any kind of proper ending, resulting in a 17% share.
The real reason for Silk‘s recent wandering audience could be down to one major issue – ITV’s dead-eyed creepy ‘everyman’ played by The League of Gentlemen‘s Reece Shearsmith.
The Widower (9pm) has achieved quite a feat in its three short weeks – not only did the drama spring from nowhere, easily securing the prime time slot, but it also increased its audience each week.
Three weeks ago 5 million viewers watched the true story of Malcolm Webster, a seemingly normal former nurse with an insatiable penchant for wives and life insurance policies.
A week later 5.2 million viewers watched as Shearsmith radiated wrong as he slithered into the life of a woman who was to become his second wife. The third and final part, which focused more on the slow-and-steady-wins-the-race police investigation, secured 5.5 million viewers for ITV.
An audience share of 23% watched as justice was finally served to Shearsmith’s character, securing the biggest audience in its time slot.
Last but not least of the prime time finales was The Plantagenets (BBC Two, 9pm), Professor Robert Bartlett’s look back at the country’s most ambitious and bloody family.
1.5 million viewers tuned in for the final chapter of the history lesson, as Bartlett simply dealt in hard facts rather than condescending showmanship. The downfall of England’s longest-ruling family secured a 6% share.
Also taking a extremely well-earned break for the summer months was The Walking Dead over on FX. The second half of the fourth series continued to break records in the US (bagging 15.7 million viewers on Sunday) as the unrelenting drama focused on the aftermath of the prison siege.
After keeping the survivors separated for many episodes now, last night saw the traumatised cast all make their way towards a new safe haven – with the usually horrific plot twists keeping viewers in a state of numbness. In the UK last night, 555,000 viewers braved through the finale to see just who would make it to the end of the series alive, resulting in a 3% share.
Unfortunately Channel 4’s never-ending trauma-doc, One Born Every Minute (9pm), still had plenty of material to shoot out as the fifth series continued. 1.8 million viewers tuned in for another harrowing hour on Monday evening, securing an 8% share along the way.
At 10pm on BBC Two, the second episode of Rev‘s third series dealt with some super modern issues as the Rev Adam Smallbone was asked to marry a gay couple, leading to yet another existential crisis. 1.5 million viewers watched as Tom Hollander wrestled with the Church of England’s views, netting an 8% share.
At the same time Channel 4 was also exploring some similar issues, but this being the broadcaster that was ‘born risky’, it was as if it had sent someone back in time to destroy the concept of subtlety before it was created.
Our Gay Wedding: The Musical (10pm) must have seemed simply too obvious a concept for commissioners to turn down, single-handedly enforcing every gay stereotype despite the seemingly progressive times we’re now part of.
An audience of 479,000 viewers tuned in to see the repeat of the spectacular from Saturday, with the show generating the third biggest amount of TV tweets for the day. A total of 12,260 tweets went out at the time of broadcast, translating to 26 tweets for every 1,000 viewers.
London Live, the first television channel dedicated to the UK’s capital, launched last night with Not the One Show (7pm) becoming the channel’s highest draw, according to a report in the Guardian.
Hosted by Louise Scodie, the topical news show pulled in an average audience of 22,000 viewers on the opening night.
As usual, earlier in the day the soaps set the standards so high that the prime time dramas had little chance of catching up with them. Emmerdale at 7pm brought in 6.2 million viewers and a 33% share, followed by the first episode of Coronation Street at 7:30pm.
Last night’s double-feature of emotional crisis centred on Carla’s big baby decision and was watched by the day’s biggest audience. 7.8 million viewers tuned in to see fetching Lothario, Peter Barlow, jump back and forth between his wife and the Street’s spray-painted bike.
The second episode at 8:30pm only saw the audience fall slightly, down to 7.6 million and a 32% share.
In between the Weatherfield love triangle, over on BBC One EastEnders (8pm) was busy bringing secret weapon Stan Carter into the fold. 7.3 million viewers watched as Mick visited his father in hospital, leading the way for a family reunion, resulting in a 32% share and the third biggest audience of the day.
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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.