TV Overnights: Chatsworth and 56 Up finales go head-to-head

EastEnders (BBC One, 8pm) attracted the BBC’s biggest audience of Monday night and a 35% audience share as Ian Beale’s dramatic exit went unnoticed by the entire cast. Poor Lucy Beale was under the impression her Dad was sunning himself on a solo Honeymoon, so she did what all 19 years old do and threw a party. Little did she know that Ian was on a six month exploratory expedition of the M50, with nothing to protect him from the elements other than his dressing gown and funny walk. 7.38 million people tuned in to see Lucy realise her father’s disappearance mightn’t be as harmless as she initially thought.

Up against EastEnders on ITV1 was topical documentary The Queen and I at 8pm. The show featured interviews with actual plebeians who have been in close physical contact with the constitutional monarch herself! 3.26 million viewers (a 15.5% share) watched the footage, which was made up from camcorders and mobile phones and shot by the numerous people who have met her over the years. The documentary raised some serious questions about HRH’s current profile. From impromptu appearances at weddings in Manchester to showing up at a tree planting; does the Queen have the same agent as Stacey Solomon?

As usual ITV1’s big draw of the night was a double contribution of Coronation Street. The first episode (7:30pm) scored the biggest audience of the day, as Karl and Sunita realised their illicit secret may be out in the open. After finding Karl’s wallet in Sunita’s love den, Sophie Webster may have sparked the neurons off in her brain and put the pieces of the intricate puzzle together. 7.5 million people tuned in, resulting in a 39% audience share.

The second episode at 8:30pm was down slightly on the first but still managed 7.1 million viewers. A 32% audience share watched as Karl spun a web of lies to try and confuse Sophie into believing his lies. As it happens, Sunita and Karl were meeting in secret to help battle his gambling problems. Although a tram did plow through Molly Dobbs a while back, so I guess anything could happen.

In the 9pm slot both main flagship channels were showing the last of three episodes of their respective factual shows. On BBC One it was panic all round as Chatsworth dramatically prepared for the big summer wedding rush. The show managed to gain a dedicated audience as it pulled in the exact same audience as last week, with 3.8 million viewers tuning in. Although the BBC could be accused of creating a three hour promotional video narrated by the soothing tones of Max Beesley, the documentary explored every crevice of the huge building and highlighted a wide range of voices.

This was narrowly beaten by Michael Apted’s 56 Up (ITV1) which also came to an end for at least seven years, capturing 4.1 million viewers, down 800,000 since last week.

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.