TV Overnights: invasive child doc Educating Yorkshire nets 2.8m for Channel 4
Thursday night saw a clash of the nation’s bronze and silver soaps, as EastEnders (BBC One, 7:30pm) attempted to defend itself against the onslaught of an Emmerdale (ITV, 7pm & 8pm) double-bill.
ITV’s rural soap about the UK’s dodgiest little village got the soap dispenser squirting at 7pm as a character had a rare moment of self-awareness.
The first episode at 7pm saw village idiot (although there is seriously tough competition) Debbie Dingle finally accept her bed buddy Cameron is more of a psychopath than she was originally comfortable with.
7.1 million viewers tuned in to see Debbie turn to love rival/slapper aunt Chas with the news, netting 37% share and Thursday’s biggest audience.
Which wasn’t great news for poor old EastEnders (7:30pm), over on BBC One. Last night saw social pariah Ronnie Mitchell struggle to fit back into the Square after, you know, all that dead baby swapping business a few years ago.
Scenes of the glamorous ex-convict take cuddly and warm advice from the Pippa Fletcher character of the piece, Phil Mitchell, attracted an audience of 6.7 million viewers and a 33% share.
While getting beaten by ITV’s second most popular soap is pretty bad, BBC One’s flagship show did gain a slight victory – 6.6 million viewers tuned in for the second helping of North Yorkshire wholesomeness, helping EastEnders beat at least one episode of Emmerdale.
At 9pm, the lovely Kirsty Young was busy twitching her curtains on Crimewatch (BBC One), documenting how the nation’s social fabric has fallen apart through captivating dramatisations of horrific crimes. 3.1 million people caught up with their monthly dose of suburban paranoia, netting a 14% share and the biggest audience in the time slot.
Over on BBC Two was the premiere of a new high profile period drama. An intriguing story and a cracking cast couldn’t distract people from the very cbeebie-sounding Peaky Blinders (9pm) – just two words that should never go together. An impressive 2.4 million people watched the opening episode about Birmingham’s organised crime in the wake of the first World War, bagging an 11% share.
At the same time ITV aired the second episode of the Broadchurch-esque sadsack drama The Guilty (9pm). Just when you thought British drama had had its fill of dead children, the Tamsin Greig vehicle throws up a slaughtered four year old for the nation’s entertainment needs.
The sophomore episode was down nearly 1 million viewers week on week, with 2.7 million people (a 13% share) tuning in for the mystery spread across two timelines.
On Channel 5, the surviving housemates were all drooling with anticipation for Friday night’s finale. 1.4 million viewers and a 7% share watched the hour of quality filler, dismally securing Channel 5’s biggest audience of the day.
Meanwhile, over in the corner of wrong (that’s saying something considering the celebration of the mentally vulnerable of Channel 5), misbehaving school children were given their own prime time slot on Education Yorkshire (9pm).
Last night’s scholastic adventure focused on one disruptive little shi* in particular, technically making her the lead in her own show. Nice to see hard work being rewarded.
While this must technically, fit into Channel 4’s educational remit, making stars out of susceptible teenagers at such a significant point in their lives must have seemed ethically suspect to at least few people at the once envelope-pushing broadcaster.
Morality be dammed – this is television and ethics only get in the way of pulling in the great British viewing public. The second episode from the people that like to put cameras in maternity wards, chicken shops and emergency rooms seems to have done the trick – 2.8 million viewers tuned in to see gobby Georgia grab the limelight and waste everyone’s time in the process.
Speaking of gobby youths, the world of Twitter was just as intrigued with the erosion of common sense – the documentary was the most twotted about show yesterday, generating 81,895 tweets. That translates to roughly 30 tweets per 1,000 viewers.
The invasive-cameras-on-the-wall documentary pulled in a 13% share and Channel’s biggest audience of the day. Nice to know someone is winning from this set-up.
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