TV Overnights: Tuesday’s viewers flock to BBC One
He’s a clever one, that Alfie Moon. After months of living in a bubble while his wife Kat conducted the most obvious affair in the history of soap (possibly mankind), the E14 cheeky chappy finally hatched a plan to put a stop to all the silliness.
Like many a viewer, the Queen Vic landlord just wanted the story line to end – at this stage of the game, much like us, he was completely disinterested as to the identity of the mystery lover. Rivalling Lost to see how far it can stretch the audience’s patience, the soap saw Alfie lie to his wife, pretending he was leaving the comfort and safety of Albert Square for the night (these characters just don’t do that).
As it turns out, pulling the wool over the brassy barmaid’s eyes was shockingly easy.
7.5 million viewers watched as EastEnders (BBC One, 7:30pm) went all film noir with Alfie following his lady from the shadows as she made her way down the corrupt and broken back streets of Walford. The episode pulled in the biggest audience of the day, with a 34% share watching as Alfie’s worst suspicions were confirmed.
He only missed about 60 million clues over the past six months but at least he got there eventually.
Half an hour earlier on ITV1, tension was in the air as Emmerdale‘s (7pm) latest murder trial kicked off. This week, poor old Chas was on trial for a crime she didn’t commit. Although for ages she did think she did it for, so it’s not so bad. She had thought she smashed ex-boyfriend Carl King’s head in but unbeknownst to her she only dented it a little.
Entering a not-guilty plea, a brave Chas had to face the judging eyes of the village. All without her trademark slap. 6.8 million viewers (a 32% share) watched as Cain Dingle burst into the court, dispensing a public dressing down. Which is, of course, a traditional soap staple.
The rural drama managed to secure the second biggest audience of the night and provided ITV1 with its biggest hit of the day.
Later on BBC Two, Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood stepped up their publicity assault and delivered yet another master class spin off on their hugely popular baking show. The Great British Bake Off Christmas Masterclass featured the double assault of Berry’s pearly white teeth and Hollywood’s baby blue eyes, beating the viewer into submission (with the texture of a badly kneaded pastry dough).
The dynamic duo’s festive tips secured 3.3 million viewers and a 14% share, helping deliver the channel’s biggest audience of the day.
Over on BBC One, Holby City (8pm) performed to its usual level, netting 5 million viewers and a 23% share.
The mêlée between the two flagship channels for the 9pm crown wasn’t so much a skirmish, more of a walk in the park for BBC One. The channel’s battalion of ageing soldiers walked briskly past the completion, at a sensible pace similar to a gentile stroll through the park in Autumn.
The BBC’s super septuagenarian pairing of Derek Jacobi and Anne Reid easily walked away with the prime time audience. The further adventures of the couple who found love late in life saw Anne Reid’s character struggle with the fact that her daughter, played by Sarah Lancaster, is a lesbian.
The fifth and penultimate episode brought friction to the December to December relationship as her intolerant stance was brought into question. A suspiciously consistent 6.2 million viewers ( a 27% share) caught up with the elderly lover’s latest drama, proving the show has hit the right chord with its target audience.
BBC One had an impressive night as it held the largest audience share from EastEnders at 7:30pm all the way through to Philip Kaufman’s existential heavy-fest The Unbearable Lightness of Being at 11:35pm. This film, above all else that ever existed, will be the one that made you realise you should have been in bed asleep.
It was as if ITV1 didn’t even try at 9pm. The commercial broadcaster sent a repeat of a shaky psycho drama out into the arena and was instantaneously defeated by the BBC’s cuddly production.
Ruth Rendell’s Thirteen Steps Down (ITV1, 9pm) was originally broadcast in August of this year and was critically mauled on delivery. The story, based on a 2004 novel (so it’s all very modern, don’t you know), featured a creepy stalker, obsessed with a model neighbour in Notting Hill.
Earlier this year the first of the two part drama attracted 4 million viewers but last night delivered a limp 1.2 million, resulting in a 5% 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.