TV Overnights: BBC One’s Life Savers leads a night of ‘authentic’ television
Prime time scripted drama was in short supply last night as the TV schedule was awash with cheap ‘documentary’ shows, with viewers drowning in a sea of observational reality programming.
As usual, the BBC attempted to keep its head held high while diving into this morally murky ocean, attempting to give us something slightly more worthy than its commercial competitors.
In the 9pm slot on BBC One was the heroic tale of emergency medics dealing with catastrophic injuries in Live Savers. Coming across as a more sobering version of 24 Hours in A&E, the documentary (in the classic and…you know…actual sense) pulled in 2.9 million viewers and a 14% share. The harsh hour of programming brought in the biggest audience of the 9pm slot.
BBC Two was in a full-on intense love affair with the aviation industry last night, with two hours of programming dedicated to the complexities of allowing us mere mortals to traverse the sky.
First up at 8pm was the final episode of Airport Live (BBC Two), a behind the scenes show that informed viewers of the details they never thought they’d know about Heathrow Airport. In the final thrilling episode, Dan Snow was allowed into air traffic control and Dallas Campbell gave the flight simulator a go.
So far, so ‘Countryfile in an airport’. The stirring full-access tour was watched by 2.5 million viewers, with 9pm documentary Flights and Fights: Inside the Low Cost Airlines (BBC Two) netting 2 million people.
At the same time on Channel 4 as part of its Mating Season, the broadcaster turned its deserving focus to a variety of people looking for a partner to share their vacant lives with. The first episode of First Dates (9pm) featured a roster of deeply self-obsessed people who struggled to act like real humans for five minutes at a time.
Although for balance and the cynical awwwww factor, there was Richard, who was looking for love three years after his wife passed away. Naturally, because we live in the future now, there were also some interactive features tacked on for good measure.
The show – an awkward mash-up of scripted nonsense like Made in Chelsea and the traditional dating show – featured eight dates chit chatting about themselves in a banal fashion, while sharing way too much information for a first date.
Only 710,000 people turned up for an hour of breezy – if vacant – noise, resulting in a 3% share. It’ll be interesting to see how many viewers show up for a second date next Thursday.
There were more ‘real’ people on offer over on ITV, as Happy Families (9pm) attempted to appeal to as many people as possible by breaking down Britain’s varied demographic profile into three separate clans. If you didn’t see yourself and your struggles in last night’s show then you’re clearly living in some kind of alternative fringe society.
Regardless, 2.4 million viewers caught up with the second episode, which saw the intrusive cameras zoom in on each family’s children for the hour, resulting in a 12% share.
A double dose of Emmerdale (ITV, 7pm & 8pm) was available earlier on in the day, for those whose day wasn’t quite dramatic enough. Someone needs to check the water supply in the once sleepy hamlet, as last night was a fine showcase of how dramatically chaotic the show has become.
6.3 million viewers caught up with Declan and Katie’s most recent marital strife now featuring 100% more dismembered body parts. An hour later, 5.9 million viewers came back to see even more erosion of the countryside’s serenity, pulling in a 27% share.
Crammed in between over on BBC One was the never-ending tale of ordinary everyday Cockney folk. There’s never a simple day in Walford – all poor Bianca wanted to do was open the door and allow a plumber into her house.
This being EastEnders (7:30pm) viewers should know that no one ever has incidental things happen to them (like, say, something real life people would experience). So it should have been obvious then that Bianca’s sink flooding led directly to the introduction of a major villain.
The Walford soap managed to pull in an audience of 6.6 million, which turned out to be Thursday’s biggest audience – proving there’s life in the old dog yet.
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.