TV Overnights: Non-live EastEnders secures Tuesday’s biggest hit for BBC One
After all the drama of Monday’s live segment, last night EastEnders (BBC One, 7:30pm) was firmly back to its dreary self. After actually smiling for a bit and getting some attention (of the good kind) Billy Mitchell was on a bit of a comedown after an eventful start to his week.
Walford logic dictates that after torch bearing and becoming a great-grandfather in one day, Billy is due a truckload of misery. Yesterday’s episode saw him grovelling to Janine, hoping to get his job back.
Elsewhere, Lucy (daughter of Ian Beale, super tramp) also continued to struggle financially. Will grifting some money from slimy letch Derek solve all her problems? Highly unlikely, really – given the resident’s penchant for desolation. 6.6 million viewers tuned in for the latest drama, securing Tuesday’s biggest audience for BBC One. This is down 700,000 from the live episode on Monday.
Over on BBC Two at 10pm were a bunch of doddering ‘professionals’ who were also familiar with financial problems. The final episode of Twenty Twelve saw the calamitous group of organisers preparing for the handover in the final days leading up to the opening ceremony.
Danny Boyle and his creative team were causing headaches for the Deliverance Committee -there were concerns that some of the fireworks used could possibly set off ground-to-air missiles, something even the best PR can’t put a good spin on. 1.5 million viewers watched to see if Hugh Bonneville and Olivia Colman would do something about the odd but sweet chemistry between them.
The penultimate episode of Superstar (ITV1, 9pm) saw yet another Jesus vacate the manger, with his dream in tatters. Edgy 90’s Boy-Band Jesus and Manically Happy Supply Teacher Jesus were forced to fight to the death (musically speaking) after a public vote. Although there were many people that thought actual death might have been a better option than watching two grown men competitively duet through Boyzone’s ‘No Matter What’.
2.6 million viewers tuned in to see the judging panel chose their all-singing and dancing spiritual leader, securing a 12% audience share. 203,000 of those were brave enough to view the judges in unforgiving HD. All eyes are on tonight when Andrew Lloyd Webber finally reaches his dramatic climax.
While home grown entertainment continued to capture the larger audiences, American dramas littered throughout the schedule attracted smaller, niche viewers. The third episode of Sky Atlantic’s The Newsroom (10pm) saw Jeff Daniel’s anchorman Will McAvoy struggle to save his career after an on-air declaration and pulled in 106,000 viewers. At the same time on 5* a repeat of The Walking Dead saw the second series steer towards its brutal end and attracted 131,000 viewers.
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.