Unforgotten brings closure and 3.8m to ITV, recommissioned for second series
Yesterday brought a close to ITV’s impressively grown up police procedural Unforgotten (9pm) as the slow burning cold case drama wrapped up its carefully spun tale in an emotional sixth and final episode.
The excellently played out drama starred Nicola Walker (Spooks, most other things) and comedian Sanjeev Bhaskar (Goodness Gracious Me) as unusually believable police detectives inspecting a decades-old murder after the remains of a young man are discovered in a London building site.
Five weeks ago the tale opened up with 4.5 million viewers, with the following episodes exploring a host of late-in-life suspects heavily burdened by hanging on to corrosive secrets of yesteryear.
Helped along by a host of supporting characters played by Bernard Hill, Tom Courtenay and Trevor Eve, each week saw the back story and long-gestating trauma slowly unravel as the initial audience fell slightly to 3.8 million for the next two episodes.
Last night’s finale, which gave viewers all the answers they were promised, secured another 3.8 million viewers and a 19% share, with the revelation of young Jimmy Sullivan’s tragic fate securing the 9pm slot for ITV.
It seems like the rigid audience figures and universal acclaim have been noticed by the powers that be, with a second series of the refreshingly unflashy crime drama just announced. All this means the future is (relatively) bright for detectives Cassie and Sunny, TV’s most welcome new crime-fighting duo.
Over on BBC Two there was plenty more drama on offer with the fourth episode of muddy blokey historical drama The Last Kingdom (9pm). Opening up with 2.2 million viewers (and – spoiler – a much larger cast), last night’s tale of Saxon/Viking power play secured 1.6 million viewers and an 8% share.
Channel 4 brought the penultimate episode of Kitchen Impossible with Michel Roux Jr (9pm) which saw the chef continue to train up out-of-work volunteers with various disabilities in the culinary arts.
Ticking a number of the broadcaster’s remits in one fell swoop, the latest instalment brought in an audience of 960,000 viewers and a 5% share.
On Channel 5, the latest episode of Ben Fogle: New Lives in the Wild UK (9pm) introduced viewers to a brave family who gave up a council flat in London to live in in the wilds of Devon, so not exactly Robinson Crusoe then.
1.3 million viewers watched as Ben marvelled at a family living in a field, resulting in a 6% share.
[advert position=”left”]A little earlier in the day this weekend’s huge charity drive got under way on BBC One with a little taster of feel-good giving in the form of Tom Jones & Rob Brydon: One Big Night for Children in Need (8pm). The hour and a half of the Welsh variety team-up secured 3.1 million viewers and a 15% share.
Over on BBC Two MasterChef: The Professionals (8pm) pulled in 2.7 million viewers and a 13% audience share, while Paul O’Grady: For the Love of Dogs (ITV, 8:30pm) netted an even more impressive 3.9 million viewers and an 18% share.
On Channel 4, a very special edition of George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces (8pm) looked at ‘floating homes’ (houses what exist on water) and was watched by 1.5 million viewers and a 7% share.
Even earlier, county murder soap Emmerdale (ITV) dropped not one but two episodes, with the 7pm showing netting 5.7 million viewers and a 30% share, while the second trip at 8pm brought in 5.3 million and a 25% share.
Luckily for BBC One’s EastEnders (7:30pm) there was no direct clash, resulting in the London soap bagging Thursday’s top spot.
6.2 million viewers tuned in to see the latest heart-warming family dramas unfold, including scenes of Ronnie Mitchell going mental and smashing up a bar, resulting in a 31% 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. 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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