TV Overnights: BBC Two’s The Fall wins 9pm slot for second week
Turning the attention away from any ongoing internal scandals, last night saw BBC One’s Panorama investigation into the Hillsborough disaster point its big stick of blame at misleading officials and the emergency services.
To justify its commission, the examination hoped to find definitive culpability where numerous official inquiries were left wanting. Hillsborough: How They Buried the Truth (9pm) reminded us all of the horrors of the fateful day in 1989 but offered little in the way of new insights.
Regardless, 2.8 million viewers tuned in for the ‘best of’ clip show featuring a few seconds of new footage. The programme (that came across like a group therapy session with the sole purpose of getting the nation to collectively vent and ultimately let go) attracted a 12% share.
This meant that for the second Monday in a row BBC Two walked away with the biggest audience in the 9pm slot. Despite The Fall witnessing a minute drop in viewers, the Belfast-set murder drama (we’re officially obsessed with this type of thing, apparently) retained its pulling power.
The second of five episodes saw Gillian Anderson’s detective superintendent take charge when yet another woman turned up expired. The serial killer show with a twist (the serial killer is played by an allegedly attractive man – mind blowing) was watched by 3.4 million viewers and a 15% share.
Thank God that the 9pm slot was a lot less sobering over in the realms of commercial television. Although it stuck with the horror theme, at least ITV’s prime time offerings attempted to inject a little humour to the proceedings.
The fourth episode (already?) of the extremely divisive Vicious saw old-dear caricatures Stuart and Freddie hit the grimy streets of Soho to celebrate their Superhoodie Ash’s new job. The one good thing about this effort of a sitcom is the optimistic notion that a job handing out flyers can get you a spacious flat in Zone 1’s Covent Garden.
2.5 million viewers watched the latest duel of catty snipes and lethal one-liners, securing an 11% share. Next up was the hilarious sitcom set in a Midlands job centre. Much like Vicious, The Job Lot has been haemorrhaging viewers since its debut four weeks ago – down from 4.9 million viewers to last night’s 1.9 million.
At the same time on Channel 4 was the second episode of horror docu-drama, Skint (9pm). It’s still unclear what the show’s purpose is – while it sticks to most of the documentary genre’s tropes, it also strays dangerously close to dressing up its subjects as fabricated reality show stars that are all the rage at the moment.
The show, billed as a real-life look at a community struggling with large scale unemployment, sometimes comes across like a TOWIE-esque replacement for Shameless. Viewers seemed to like it though, giving Panorama a run for it money with an audience of 2.7 million viewers, the channel’s biggest of the day.
Earlier in the evening, the main soaps secured their positions in the schedule by winning the top four audiences of the day. Emmerdale (ITV) netted 6.9 million viewers at 7pm, resulting in a 36% share.
Despite receiving a few thrashings in recent weeks, Monday brought about some familiarity as EastEnders (BBC One, 8pm) yet again found the strength to beat its rural rival. Only just, though.
Last night’s Walford drama saw Sharon, once again, pass out on her sofa after indulging in a few too many special sweeties – Monday can be a struggle for the best of us. The East End soap barely managed to beat Emmerdale with just an extra 38,000 viewers.
A total audience of 7 million viewers tuned in to see Phil judge his lover harshly, despite having a history of serious addiction himself (booze, the odd bit of crack, the ladies), resulting in a 31% share.
The double trip to Coronation Street (ITV, 7:30 and 8:30pm) saw terminally annoying characters Peter and Rob squabble over their rubbish jobs in the bookies. 8.2 million viewers watched the first episode as Carla looked about as annoyed as the audience, securing an impressive 39% share. This was Monday’s biggets audience.
An hour later and viewers were down to 7.6 million as Carla decided to send Rob packing back to her knicker empire two metres away, resulting in a 32% share.
Perhaps one day a character will discover they can take a job outside of the claustrophobic street they live on, even commuting as far as the Arndale centre. Minds will be blown.
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.