TV viewing round-up: February 2016

Dating all the way back to 1979’s adaptation of Tinker Tailor, Soldier Spy, John Le Carré spy dramas have had the knack of drawing viewers to the BBC.

The latest The Night Manager features an all-star cast of Tom Hiddleston, Olivia Colman, Hugh Laurie, Tom Hollander and Elizabeth Debicki – with the second episode of the six-part series achieving the biggest rating so far, with 8.4 million people tuning in to see Hiddleston play the title character.

Sarah Lancashire’s hard bitten cop Sgt Catherine Cawood was welcomed back to viewers’ screens this month, with the return of BBC One’s Happy Valley.

The opening episode of the second series pulled in the biggest viewing figure with an average audience of 8.6 million.

After the highs of last year’s Rugby World Cup, February saw the return of the less exciting, but still important, 6 Nations tournament.

From this year the competition is broadcast jointly between BBC and ITV, in a deal lasting six years.

BBC One attracted 6.4 million for Scotland v England, while ITV pulled in just over 6.6 million for the England v Ireland game.

Meanwhile, The Brit Awards happened with barely any controversy (for once) – assuming you don’t count a bit of bad language from Adele.

The ceremony was once again presented by Ant and Dec, following last year’s return after 14 years, pulling in an audience rating of just over 6.2 million.

Other show that did well this month include: Death in Paradise (8.1 million); Midsomer Murders (6.2 million); Vera (6.5 million); War and Peace (7 million); Shetland (5.9 million) and the inexplicably popular Countryfile (8.8 million).

Top Programmes (excluding soaps):

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