TV Viewing Round-Up: October 2013

The inexplicable rise of BBC Two’s twee Great British Bake Off proved to be the stand out performance of the month, giving Auntie Beeb’s second channel its only appearance in the top programmes list.

The grand final, which saw judges Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry tasting the baked offerings from Frances Quinn, Kimberley Wilson and Ruby Tandoh, attracted a final consolidated rating of 9.5 million viewers.

This gave BBC Two its highest ratings since the ’90s and no doubt justifies the decision to bump the show over to BBC One from next year.

David Suchet’s last appearances as Belgium’s most famous detective, if you don’t count Tintin *, proved once again to be popular with UK viewers.

The of second of the four final unfilmed Agatha Christie novels, an adaptation of Dead Man’s Folly broadcast on 30th October, pulled in an audience of 5.7 million.

England’s final two crucial Group H matches gave ITV some ratings cheer. First off was World Cup Qualifier: England v Montenegro which saw a 4-1 home victory and pulled in an average audience of just under 7 million viewers.

This was followed four days later with the slightly laboured 2-0 victory World Cup Qualifier: England v Montenegro, which had a higher average audience of 8.1 million.

October saw Ripper Street return to TV screens, further detailing the lives of Whitechapel residents living in the shadow of Jack the Ripper.

The opening episode of the second series, which featured the semi-stunt casting of ‘Elephant Man’ Joseph Merrick as a potential witness, pulled in 6.5 million viewers.

Ex-timelord David Tennant found himself a new drama to help people forget he was ever Gallifrey’s most famous citizen. At least until he ruined it all by appearing in the 50th anniversary special of course.

Following on from his big success in ITV’s Broadchurch, Mr Tennant’s next role found him as a barrister who soon regrets getting his latest client acquitted of a murder charge. 6.2 million people watched the first instalment of the three part drama.

Sweeping up audiences desperate for dramas about department stores, this month saw the return of The Paradise, which is in no way thematically similar to ITV’s Mr Selfridge.

Picking up a year after the end of the first series, the new series kicked off with just over 6 million viewers, despite being scheduled against karaoke ratings juggernaut The X Factor Results.

Elsewhere Downton Abbey held off a strong challenge from Strictly Come Dancing to retain its position as the most watched programme of the month. The most talked about episode from 6 October, which saw Mr Green’s valet attack Anna, was seen by a shocked (if the press coverage is anything to go by) audience of 11.3 million.

*Tin Tin is actually a journalist, Ed.

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