UKIP: The First 100 Days courts controversy but few viewers
Monday night saw Channel 4 launch a brand new week of prime time television with a satirical dig at what’s probably the UK’s easiest current target, with UKIP: The First 100 Days (9pm).
The documentary-style drama took a look at the right-wing political party’s first three months in number 10, specifically focusing on a conflicted newly elected MP, the only Asian female amongst UKIP’s ranks.
While the broadcaster is no stranger to ruffling a few feathers, the limp attack on the increasingly popular party didn’t pack any kind of punch, ultimately making the entire endeavour a slightly pointless experience.
While the faux-doc generated plenty of ire on Twitter – with many venting outrage that the programme was funded in part by the EU’s Creative Europe project – the controversy didn’t result in massive ratings. In total 916,000 viewers tuned in for the half-hearted cautionary tale, resulting in a 4% share and quite a few complaints to Ofcom.
At the same time, Channel 5 was also trying to rile up some ‘debate’ with the latest miserable look at life on the fringes in Benefits Britain: Life on the Dole (9pm). As the second series hit the halfway point, viewers were invited to sunny Blackpool to gawp at a six person family living on £100 a week, as well as spending time with an Essex lad who just couldn’t be bothered to work.
The heart-warming start to the week attracted 1.8 million viewers and an 8% share for the broadcaster, resulting in Channel 5’s biggest hit of the day.
Over on ITV, the divisive second series of Broadchurch (9pm) hurtled towards its endgame with the dramatic penultimate episode. The crime drama, in which each and every character must cry at least twice in each episode, saw the trial of nearly-95%-definitely-sure child-killer Joe Miller reach a conclusion as the jury went off to deliberate.
Elsewhere dynamic duo Hardy (David Tennant) and Miller (Olivia Coleman) made some headway in that other storyline, featuring a host of the world’s least reliable character witnesses who all parade around making it painfully obvious they are hiding SECRETS.
After this series’ relatively poor performance and then last week’s pleasant surprise bump in popularity, with 5.9 million viewers, yesterday’s second-to-last trip to the sunny yet sad seaside town fell slightly to 5.8 million viewers and a 24% share. In brighter news, the show was the most tweeted about programme of the day.
There were even more laughs over on FOX as the cheerful bunch of survivors on The Walking Dead (9pm) swiftly moved on from last week’s devastating loss to another jovial hour of bloody anguish.
An audience of 495,00 viewers tuned in to see just how tatty Andrew Lincoln’s beard could get, resulting in a 2% share.
BBC One kicked off EastEnders‘ hugely important week of anniversary celebrations, dramatic reveals and live scenes by replacing Monday’s usual slice of the resurgent soap with a whole evening of football.
Match of the Day Live graced BBC One’s screens from 7:30pm, with Gary Lineker on hosting duties for the sixth-round draw. 7:45pm saw the kick-off of the exciting game between dynamic Preston North End and Louis van Gaal’s fraternity of ne’er-do-wellers, Manchester United, live from Lancashire’s Deepdale stadium.
An average audience of 5.7 million viewers and a 25% share tuned in for the two and a half hour running time, peaking at 6.9 million around 9pm.
To make up for this slight, BBC One forced manic comedian Graham Norton to host a plethora of past and present Walford regulars. The Graham Norton Show (10:45pm) saw Dot Cotton, Pat Butcher, Danny Dyer and, uh, Richard Blackwood partake in Norton’s pandering brand of scripted banter, resulting in 2.2 million viewers and a 22% share.
Over on Channel 4 at 10pm, Sharon and Rob’s car crash life continued to make them struggle existentially while keeping audiences smirking in the penultimate episode of Catastrophe. The tale of an American ad man and a sardonic Irish lass settling down together in London after a drunken one-week stand resulted in a pregnancy pulled in 515,000 viewers and a 3% share.
Earlier in soap land, Emmerdale (ITV, 7pm) saw Andy, Adam and Aaron all dealing with the aftermath of Katie’s death, attracting 6.4 million viewers and a 31% share.
A double dollop of Weatherfield histrionics secured Monday’s top spots as long-term buddies Gail and Sally had a cup of tea over a large parcel of heroin at number 8 Coronation Street (ITV, 7:30pm and 8:30pm).
7.1 million viewers (a 32 % share) tuned in at 7pm to see Gail discover the badly hidden package in her kitchen, falling to 6.6 million at 8:30pm when she dropped her son David in it by going to the police.
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. Overnight data supplied by TRP are based on 15 minute slot averages. This may differ from tape checked figures, which are based on a programme’s actual start and end time.
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