TV Overnights: The Syndicate & EastEnders secure a Tuesday win for BBC One
Lottery drama The Syndicate pulled in the biggest audience in last night’s 9pm slot, scoring a 22% audience share for BBC One.
One day a story will be written about a lottery win in which everyone lives happily-ever-after but Kay Mellor’s show, while light and enjoyable, is intent in going down the slightly darker road – a place where money can’t easily save the characters.
The third instalment of The Syndicate focused on supermarket manager Bob, played by Timothy Spall, who did not have time to roll around in a bed of cash but instead dealt with his mortality head-on after the results of a brain scan came through. 5.4 million viewers watched the episode, which saw Bob take on the cheery task of putting his life in order.
Earlier on the same channel, the Mitchells were having yet another of many bad days as Ben went for an evaluation with a court psychologist. EastEnders (7:30pm) was the most watched programme on Tuesday, securing 7.6 million viewers for BBC One. The episode, which grabbed a 35% audience share, saw Phil’s concern grow for Ben on the eve of Heather’s funeral – but is Walford’s Jack the Nipper smart enough to outwit the Crown Prosecution Service?
Series 14 of Holby City trundled on at 8pm on BBC One. The medical spin-off fared well in the 8pm slot, attracting the usual audience of 5.2 million viewers (a 22% share). Over on ITV1, tennis pro Pat Cash returned to Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? Celebrity, intent on building on the £150,000 he had won at the end of last week’s show. The game show, now in its 14th year, was watched by 2.5 million viewers.
This was followed at 9pm by ITV’s attempt at the road trip odyssey that the BBC does so well. The Mighty Mississippi with Trevor McDonald saw Sir Trevor trace the path of the great river and, in the first of three episodes, visit Louisiana and New Orleans. Sir Trevor looked every inch like the man dragged out of retirement, viewing the wonders before him with a stoic distance. Three million viewers caught the initial leg of the trip, with a 12% audience share.
Mad Men saw a slight increase in viewing figures, with 63,000 people tuning into the US hit drama on Sky Atlantic at 9pm. The fourth episode of series five saw Roger put Peggy under even more pressure. The audience increased by 16,000 viewers week on week.
Over on Channel 4 The Undatables managed to hold on to most of last week’s premiere audience. Last night 2.2 million viewers watched as Shaine (a 31 year old with learning difficulties) searched for a partner, with the cameras catching every awkward moment.
This was followed by the second series of Facejacker (10pm) as Kayvan Novak continued his assault on the good people of America. Just over one million people tuned in to see ghastly creation Dufrais visit locations from Rocky in Philadelphia and artist Brian Badonde introduce Postman Pat to poets in New York.
The comedy continued over on BBC One, with the new series from Matt Lucas getting off to a healthy start. The Matt Lucas Awards at 10:35pm, set in a mock-up of Matt’s flat (modelled on an abode from many, many years ago, one can only guess), was an odd take on the panel show format with the supported staff roster featuring Bond composer David Arnold and Matt’s very own mum. 2.6 million viewers watched (despite the presence of Jason Mansford), helping the show score a 17.3% 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.