TV Overnights: Cameron’s confession helps Emmerdale beat EastEnders
Like all the best stars before him, Richard Madeley has gone full-on mononymous.
Having reached a stage of stratospheric public awareness, dispensing with of one of his names was the only option really available so that the ruthless bringer of truth could ascend to the next level.
The newly rebranded ‘Madeley’ has now joined the ranks of Enya, Cher, Bono and Yanni, subtly informing us of his importance in modern culture.
To confirm this new status ITV1 only went and gave the man his own prime time investigation show! Madeley Meets the Squatters (9pm) saw the Jodi Picoult-reading modern man get up close and personal with the pariahs of the modern press. Are they fundamentally evil? Do they give anything back to society? Are their toilets sanitary?
The hard hitting exposé saw Madeley get his hands dirty…well a little bit grubby, at least. But not to worry, he seems like the type of man that would carry an emergency bottle of hand sanitizer in his back pocket.
2.4 million viewers (an 11% share) tuned in to see Mr. Judy sit down with a real-life squatter (she totally didn’t care for material products or anything – mad!), indulging in pleasant natter over a nice cup of tea. Will future editions be ripped straight from sensationalist Daily Mail headlines too? Madeley Meets Milkers, anyone?
While Madeley is currently propelling (himself) to the level of valued national treasure, other stars are dwindling, forced into a binary orbit with an old school mate. Which explains the existence of Jamie & Jimmy’s Food Fight Club (Channel 4, 9pm), a boisterous call to arms for all those food-loving cheeky chappies across the nation. And the women that love them.
The principle, if that’s not stretching the term slightly, saw former Essex schoolboys Jamie Oliver and Jimmy Doherty pretend to set up their own café in their spiritual home (so they’d have us believe) on Southend’s glamorous pier.
This was inter cut with footage of the boys eating lots of food around Europe and an appearance by Alan Carr. For some reason. Episode one, the phantom premise, pulled in 1.4 million viewers and a 6% share.
Over on BBC One at the same time was the final episode of Who Do You Think You Are? John Bishop’s exploration of his family tree had been delayed since October, finally giving those eager amateur genealogists some closure in time for Christmas.
The scouse comedian (somehow it seems obligatory to point this out when speaking about Bishop) discovered his great-great grandfather led a similar life. The man had been a professional singer with a choir and had even played at some of the same venues as his distant grandson.
4.8 million viewers (a 22% share) tuned in for the final episode of the year, juts beating Samantha Womack’s opening episode all the way back in August. The trip down memory lane captured the biggest audience share in the 9pm slot.
Earlier, the teenage abominations of Young Apprentice (BBC One, 8pm) were tasked with shooting an advert for men’s hair product. Naturally, it all descended in to a back stabbing and panicked farce. 3.3 million viewers genuinely worried about the future of humanity for an hour, resulting in a 14% audience share.
Over on ITV1 at 7pm was all the latest drama down Emmerdale way. 6.8 million viewers tuned in to see Jimmy visit Chas in prison, pleading with her not to plead guilty for his brother’s murder. Cameron was also under pressure, almost turning himself in at the extremely busy local police station, but failing to do the right thing at the last minute. Which was, satisfyingly enough, keeping in character.
About time they wrapped up this story for Christmas? The first episode netted a 27% share narrowly beating EastEnders as the most watched show of the day. The second visit to the Dales at 8pm saw viewers fall to 6.3 million.
At 8:30pm we were treated to the last Emmerdale at 40 which focused on eventual local The Woolpack. 3.3 million viewers tuned in for tales of plot lines past such as the time the pub exploded when a plane crashed, the time the pub exploded in a storm (eating Tricia Dingle in the process), the time the pub caught fire…you get the idea. The clip show pulled in a 14% share.
What a difference 69,000 viewers makes. Once again EastEnders (BBC One, 7:30pm) was left red-faced as ITV swooped in to overthrow the London soap in a surprise defeat. It’s rare but it does happen.
6.76 million viewers caught up with Walford’s latest shouty drama. The biggest scene of the night saw Phil call off his engagement to Sharon. Which was a fake arrangement to begin with…anyway, this was enough to secure an audience share of 31%.
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.