TV Overnights: Hammond’s miracles on BBC One convert 3.8m
The start of a fresh new week saw the return to our screens of stalwart adventurer Richard Hammond. Having recently stared death in the face and reeling from the devastating news that Total Wipeout will end after four marvellous years, last night saw the Hamster go all The Island of Doctor Monroe on us.
In his new three part show, the host (thankfully minus the post-crash fright wig he was so fond of) pondered how animals can help us invent and create new advancements for humans. Sadly, Richard Hammond’s Miracles of Nature (BBC One, 9pm) was less ‘let’s go against god’s design and splice DNA together’ and more ‘let nature inspire ideas’.
For example scientists created a defensive shell based on the layer that protects a woodpecker’s brain (then they put a light bulb in it and dropped it from space, naturally). 3.8 million viewers caught up with the presenter’s mad scientist-esque enthusiasm, with a 17% share watching as Hammond donned a vulture inspired paraglider and jumped from a very tall cliff.
Meanwhile on ITV1, the last episode of the second series of Monroe (9pm) saw the staff of St. Matthew’s make a crucial error – they let their hair down. After 15 series of ER (and 27 of Casualty for God’s sake!) we know that seeing the staff of a hospital celebrate in some manner or even have a collective moment of happiness will result in a devastating cataclysmic event.
Silly Dr. Monroe decided to throw his son a stag party, only for the scriptwriting gods to come along and dish out a horrific traffic accident. The medical drama finally escaped from the shadow of New Tricks in time for its finale, resulting in a boost in viewers. 3.4 million people (a 16% share) watched as Monroe and his team struggled with an onslaught of victims, resulting in a 22% jump week on week. A further 119,000 viewers watched an hour later on ITV1+1.
Over on BBC Three it time for Stacey Dooley to whip out her magnifying glass to investigate the horror of divisive country lines in the Southern US. Did you know that the US guards their borders because they don’t want to be overwhelmed with refugees? Did you know that people in the Southern America are poorer than their US counterparts? Well thanks to Stacey, now you do!
After putting controversial gay to straight conversion camps (yes it involved a lot of men out in the woods alone) under her analytical spotlight last week, Stacey was on a mission to highlight how desperate some people were to escape poverty and how sad this all was.
As usual, there was little commentary from the former retail assistant but nothing new either. The digital channel bagged an average audience of 325,000 viewers for the hour long documentary Border Wars: Stacey Dooley in the USA (9pm), netting a 1.5% share.
After all the prime time hullaballoo, stoic sobering presence Jeremy Paxman and the Newsnight (BBC Two, 10:30pm) team were in Washington DC, the epicentre of the political and media storm that is the US presidential elections where he guided us through the last few rounds of campaigning.
Luckily, plucky roving reporter Laura Trevelyan was in Florida, helping us to wrap our heads around all the noise and bright colours through the medium of condescending facial expressions and extreme gesturing.
Despite the fact the long-standing BBC journalist came across like a CBeebies presenter, 776,000 viewers tuned in for their fill of the latest analysis. The eve of the presidential elections captured a 6% share for BBC Two.
Early on, the soaps ruled the day with the first of double Coronation Street (ITV1, 7:30pm) netting the day’s biggest audience with 8.2 million viewers. The second episode attracted 7.7 million souls at 8:30pm. Beforehand Emmerdale (ITV1, 7pm) secured 7 million and a 34% audience share.
Sandwiched between ITV1’s conveyor belt of soap was EastEnders over on BBC One. The episode at 8pm saw Phil and Sharon advance in their charade engagement with prop rings and everything *facepalm* 7.6 million people watched the latest Albert Square exploits, pulling in a 32% share.
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.