TV Overnights: ITV’s soapy tag-team secures Wednesday’s biggest audiences
Quaint and twee country soap Emmerdale (ITV, 7pm) signalled the start of Wednesday night’s top shelf content as the poor man’s Robert Downey Jr, Cameron, escaped another bullet in the nick of time.
6.5 million viewers tuned in to see the village lothario, who indulges in a bit of murdering on the side, fend off a grilling from his suspicious lady friend Chas, while attempting to hide his decomposing secret buried in a field.
It wasn’t all bad news though – an uncharacteristic 180 degree plot twist saw work being cancelled on the site, allowing this particular storyline to go on for another few weeks at least. Yay. The latest devious shenanigans in the country’s third favourite soap netted a 34% audience share.
Next up was the turn of an enduringly dominant soap as another trip to Weatherfield was on the cards. Last night brought an increasingly-rare singular episode of Coronation Street (ITV, 7:30pm) as, yet again, a number of sworn enemies somehow ended up in the same rubbish restaurant at the same time.
It was depressing enough to sit in the same pub night after night – always at least two metres away from those you really should be avoiding – but since the iconic Rovers burnt down it seems the residents of the street have been somehow forced to loiter around Nick’s underwhelming Italian eatery.
7.6 million viewers – the biggest audience of the entire day – tuned in to see Stella receive some catty comments from old dear Owen as she tucked into her spaghetti and meatballs. The stand-off between financial strapped Rover’s landlady and the fleeced builder attracted a 37% share. Both soaps helped ITV secure the 7-8pm time slot.
Unfortunately for the broadcaster this was a trend they couldn’t hold on to – up next was Phillip Schofield and his eternally happy and inoffensive disposition. The veteran presenter, and keen sunbed enthusiast, brought a little sprinkling of Saturday night magic to Wednesday with his overblown celebrity self-promoting platform that is All Star Mr & Mrs (ITV, 8pm).
In the show, various illustrious ‘famous’ people and their (presumably) better halves flaunt their relationship on national television for some desperate exposure while answering some generic questions about the dark art of cohabitating. Just over 4 million people tuned in to help Gabby and Kenny Logan pay for their latest extension, with the whole vapid exercise capturing a 19% share.
All the flashing lights and snow-white teeth couldn’t fight off the gravity well of Anne Robinson’s face over on BBC One. The second episode of the 154th series of Watchdog (8pm) saw Anne and her stooges climb into drums of the best-selling washing machines in order to test their safety. The sure-fire format attracted 4.2 million viewers and a 19% share.
Over on Channel 4, Phil Spencer donned his tightest t-shirt yet and headed into the home of an elderly woman, forcing her to change every aspect of her home. Phil Spencer: Secret Agent (8pm) – which mostly consists of constantly reminding you of what just happened rather than advancing the narrative along – pulled in just over 1 million viewers and a 5% share.
The 9pm slot saw the candidates on The Apprentice (BBC One) make further fools of themselves in the second episode of the new series. Although audience figures did drop by 800,000 people night on night, last night’s task (which saw them organising an actual piss up in a brewery) managed to attract 5.2 million viewers and a 22% share.
The latest round of toe curling vocal vomit was the most watched show in the 9pm slot. For the second night in a row, the programme was the most talked about show on Twitter, generating 2,663 tweets per minute.
This didn’t do anything to scupper Scott & Bailey‘s (9pm) bad moods over on ITV. Last night brought another hour of Suranne Jones’ Rachel Bailey walking around as the living and breathing representation of the popular emoticon, ‘Sad Face’.
With their marriages still dragging them down and the fact that people were still being murdered on the gritty streets of Manchester, the crime fighting duo had little to smile about. The procedural cop show, spliced with a slightly feminist and Northern angle, attracted 4.7 million viewers and a 20% share.
Channel 4’s biggest hit of the day came in the form of 24 Hours in A&E at 9pm. The latest heart stopping moments of real life tragedy spliced together for your entertainment brought in an audience of 2 million viewers and an 8% 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.