TV Overnights: Barlow’s boozy Wednesday pulls in 7.5m for ITV1
Last night the family drama all got a bit too much for Peter Barlow, who once again turned to the demon drink – making it the second time in recent memory that Wednesday pushed him over the edge and firmly off the wagon.
Midweeks are difficult for us all, probably more so in Coronation Street (ITV1, 7:30pm). 7.5 million viewers watched as Leanne denied him from seeing his son Simon, peaking Peter’s taste for the hard stuff.
Elsewhere Emily Bishop’s creeping concerns about letting a murderous psychopath stay in her house bubbled to the surface. She may have nursed Tracy as a child but in soap land you can never trust anyone; especially when they smashed their boyfriend’s head in with a sculpture not so long ago (Weatherfield must have an extremely tolerant judicial system). The midweek helping of cobbled drama pulled in a 37% share and the biggest Wednesday audience across all channels.
This was followed immediately afterwards by Super Tiny Animals (ITV1, 8pm), an hour long documentary about super tiny animals (including a dog named Beyoncé who can fit on an iPhone!), which attracted three million viewers and a 14% share.
Straight up afterwards at 9pm was the Chris Tarrant-hosted quiz show that just won’t die. Actually, not only will it not go away, it has grown stronger and mutated into something even bigger. Live Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? The People Play is the same old show you remember but now with added live technical glitches and more interaction.
The audience can play along at home (like they always have) with their apps, tablets and what-not. The third and final episode of the special series secured three million viewers.
BBC One provided a kindly reminder that growing old can be fairly rough. Part of the When I’m 65 season The Town That Never Retired (9pm) dropped OAPs in modern work places to see how they could cope. Nick Hewer and Margaret Mountford, the BBC’s guardians of common sense and arched eyebrows reunited for this two-part special.
The set-up sounded like some terrifying nightmare future where the retirement age disappears further over the horizon. 14 elderly retirees were thrust back in to work with a variety of results. The social experiment garnered 3.6 million viewers and a 16% share.
The final episode of The Secret History of Our Streets (9pm) pulled in BBC Two’s biggest audience of the day. Last night the focus was on Arnold Circus in trendy Shoreditch, which now features fashionable shops and galleries; we soon learned that this was actually the scene for the UK’s first council estate in 1896.
Featuring interviews with current residents and a close look at historical documents, the series served as a fascinating reminder of the rich history of the capital. Two million viewers tuned in for the fascinating walk through the slums of the past.
Meanwhile the second series of 24 Hours in A&E over on Channel 4 at 9pm provided the broadcaster’s biggest hit yesterday. The challenging show, which can be as grim as it sounds, focused on mother and daughters last night.
Among the happy stories was a young woman who was bitten by her cat, which could have very serious consequences due to her chemotherapy and weak immune system. Two million viewers clung to a vain sense of hope, with another 581,000 people tuning in an hour later on Channel 4+1.
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.