The women take things to breaking point on Channel 4’s The Island
On the eve of today’s General Election Channel 4 gave the nation a horrifying glimpse of a leaderless and futile society where citizens are consigned to lay around and waste away instead of helping themselves, as the boar entrails really hit the fan in The Island with Bear Grylls (9pm).
With all the election hoopla taking over all broadcasters’ schedules today, Channel 4 was only able to air one episode of the nihilistic weight-loss show. With the entire experiment hanging in the balance, the obvious choice was to take viewers to the women’s island as their health became a major concern for producers.
The ninth episode of the second series (and fifth instalment detailing the female-only endurance experience) saw the listless group stumble from one disaster to the next, even deciding to dig into some decaying pork – the remaining remnants from last week’s rare victory.
It wasn’t long before the women were frantically dashing towards the tress, wasting any precious energy they had, which led to more survivors collapsing and concerns about organs failing (which hasn’t happened as of yet on Big Brother).
2.1 million viewers caught up with the latest slice of escapist schadenfreude fun, with an audience share of 10% watching as the producers had to step in and had to remind the women of the benefits of ingesting water.
Also giving prime time viewers a glimpse of a desperate society tearing itself apart was Charlie Brooker’s Election Wipe (BBC Two, 9pm) which came along and attempted to cut through all the spin, BS and hysteria to create a cringe-inducing portrait of politicians who will literally say anything to win the plebs over.
1.9 million viewers welcomed back Brooker’s particular brand of too-close-to-the-mark observations, resulting in a 9% share.
On BBC One, the third episode of Peter Kay’s Car Share continued its successful run at 9:30pm. Despite (apparently) breaking iPlayer records since it was released two weeks ago, the opening episode secured an impressive overnight audience of 5.7 million viewers.
The sitcom, set entirely in a car, added a third supermarket colleague to the mix last night as Peter Kay’s John and Sian Gibson’s hungover promotions girl Kayleigh were joined by a stinky fishmonger played by The League of Gentlemen’s Reece Shearsmith.
Last night’s awkward commute pulled in an impressive 5.2 million viewers and a 24% share, proving there’s still a strong appetite for Kay’s comedic stylings.
ITV’s comedy line-up wasn’t going down quite as well, with the celebrity puppets of Newzoids (9pm) settling with 1.7 million viewers and a 7% share and The Delivery Man (9:30) attracting 1.2 million viewers and a 5% share.
On Channel 5 it was time for the third and final episode of the charming third series of Autopsy: The Last Hours of…, the show that literally slices open beloved deceased celebrities and spills the figurative beans.
Last night River Phoenix was the lucky lad to get the invasive go over, attracting 825,000 viewers and a 4% share.
BBC One’s other big winner of the day popped up a bit earlier at 8pm as Inspector George Gently had to find the killer of yet another slaughtered woman, this time dumped on the Moors.
A massive 5.9 million viewers tuned in for the second episode of the seventh series, up from last’s week début audience of 5.8 million and enough to secure the 9pm slot for BBC One.
On BBC Two Gregg Wallace was busy running around a Nestlé chocolate factory with the gleeful expression of a child in Inside the Factory: How Our Favourite Foods Are Made (8pm) which was watched by 2.1 million viewers and a 10% share.
On ITV, Amanda Holden’s earnest emoting on Give a Pet a Home (8pm) secured 2.1 million viewers and a 10% share while Channel 4’s The Restoration Man‘s (8pm) best bits were watched by 759,000 and a 4% share. On Channel 5, the latest troubled proximity nightmare on The Nightmare Neighbour Next Door (8pm) attracted 1.2 million viewers and a 6% share.
At 7pm on ITV, long-suffering Laurel Dingle was in the mood for a taste of vino, only for her killjoy husband to come along and neck her bottle in front of her, in order to make some kind of point. Emmerdale‘s attempts at tackling alcoholism straight on helped bring in 5.5 million viewers and a 31% share.
Wednesday’s trip to the cobbled streets of Weatherfield scored the day’s number one spot as poor old Gail Potter Tilsley Platt Hillman McIntyre Rodwell returned from her latest honeymoon, only to find that her family had imploded in her absence.
6.2 million viewers tuned in for the latest trip to Coronation Street (ITV, 7:30pm) to see Gail find out her son David did a runner with her grandkids and that her bratty daughter Sarah had decided to hook up with the street’s most industrious drug dealer, netting 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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