Hot vicar murder drama Grantchester returns with 5m on ITV
So far this short year, the TV schedule has already welcomed back an abundance of familiar police procedurals, with last night adding another entry to the returning pile as twee murder show Grantchester (ITV, 9pm) popped up for a second run.
Falling more into the similarly-themed Endeavour side of the spectrum than, say, the lightness of Death in Paradise, Grantchester pairs together a priest wot works out (James Norton) and a Geordie detective called Geordie (Robson Green) as they travel about the idyllic Cambridgeshire countryside of the 1950s solving topical crimes.
The first series appeared on our screens in October 2014 and immediately secured an impressive audience of 5.2 million viewers with the nostalgic police procedural striking the right chord with fans of comfort blanket TV, falling to to 4.6 million viewers for the series finale six weeks later.
While horrible things do frequently happen, viewers can rest assure it’s all set to a beautiful back drop of gushing greenery and punting-a-plenty, highlighted last night when in the first 10 minutes Green and Norton were joshing about in the river Cam, shirts asunder, under a picturesque summer’s sky.
Yesterday saw 5 million viewers tune in to welcome back TV’s latest crime solving duo, with a 24% share tuning in to see the boys’ gently paced crime solving get under way once they dried off.
While ITV launched a fresh batch of bromance period sleuthing, BBC Two’s broody drama One Child came to an end after three episodes.
The tale of a young woman returning to China to help her biological brother get some justice opened with 1.4 million viewers before falling to 823,000 the following week. Last night’s intense finale improved on that slightly, with 846,000 viewers and a 4% share tuning in.
On BBC One, the new four-part series of DIY SOS (the 24th apparently) continued to shine in the 9pm slot, as Nick Knowles and his team of volunteers took on another worthy domestic makeover.
An audience of 3.6 million viewers tuned in to see the home of a grieving family get the cathartic TV makeover treatment, resulting in a 17% share.
Channel 4 brought viewers another chance to gawp at the injured and emotional in another 24 Holiday in A&E at 9pm. The latest visit to London’s St George’s Hospital was watched by 1.4 million viewers and a 7% share.
Over on Channel 5 was the second and final part of Inside Buckingham Palace (9pm), an exclusive look at the history of central London’s most famous gaff.
Kind of like MTV’s Cribs but without the part where The Queen shows us her bedroom and tells us that’s where the magic happens (actually, without the Queen at all), the show brought in 1 million viewers and a 5% share.
At 8pm, BBC One’s Traffic Cops netted 3.6 million viewers and an 18% share while BBC Two’s The £100K House: Tricks of the Trade was watched by 1.8 million viewers and a 9% share.
Over on ITV, a handful of Z-list celebrities sacrificed their children’s privacy for spot of national exposure on a brand new series of Big Star’s Little Star (9pm).
3.9 million viewers watched as someone from EastEnders, Emmerdale and long-forgotten but somehow ever-present boy band Blue dragged their tots on TV to help out with the mortgage, resulting in a 19% share.
On Channel 4, constructed nonsense Posh Pawn (8pm) was watched by 929,000 viewers and a 5% share while Channel 5’s GPs: Behind Closed Doors (8pm) bagged 1 million viewers and a 5% share.
Earlier at 7pm, there was plenty more rural scheming in Emmerdale, with the latest betrayal between Robert and Aaron netting 5.9 million viewers and a 31% share.
Afterwards, Coronation Street bagged the day’s top spot at 7:30pm, with 6.8 million viewers and a 33% share tuning in to see Eva and that fella from The X Factor go off street to a well fancy house for a posh dinner date.
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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