Mexican jaunt for MasterChef’s final four nets 4.8m
A quiet evening of television combined with a schedule change saw BBC One’s seemingly permanent show MasterChef secure the 9pm audience with its over familiar formula providing some comfort for prime time viewers.
The second-to-last episode of the mainstay show’s 12th series (really the 23rd if you’ve being paying attention, 33rd if you count the celebrity editions) saw the four remaining frantic cookers fly off to Mexico in an effort to weed out the chaff through a series of punishingly stressful cook-a-thons.
The intensely dramatic show about food preparation brought in 4.8 million viewers and netted the biggest audience in its time slot with a 24% share and was the second most talked about show on Twitter.
At the same time, ITV was attempting to tempt viewers away from the bout of traumatic fine dining by revealing a little too much detail about life behind bars on a trip to Her Majesty’s Prison: Norwich (9pm).
Guiding us through the corridors and cells was the Eighth Doctor himself, narrator Paul McGann, who uncovered various uses for Kinder eggs as well as the lifeline that a family on the outside can provide for inmates.
An audience of 2.7 million viewers tuned in to see how the seasoned criminals and first time offenders deal with the harsh realities of life inside, resulting in a 13% share.
Meanwhile BBC Two’s resident rock star historian continued to enthusiastically stroll through the past in the second instalment of Mary Beard’s Ultimate Rome: Empire Without Limit (9pm).
1.3 million viewers tuned in to find out that all the modern benefits we enjoy today stemmed from the Empire, resulting in a 7% share.
Over on Channel 4, a fresh batch of new arrivals on One Born Every Minute helped secure 1 million viewers and a 5% share while Channel 5’s nightly look at disheartened people living on the fringes of society came in the form of the latest Can’t Pay? We’ll Take It Away and was watched by 1.3 million viewers and a 6% share.
There was an hour-long edition of EastEnders at 8pm on BBC One and it looked like someone had fed the Mitchell family after midnight as Walford’s premier family continued to grow in ranks ahead of the upcoming influx of returning characters.
5.2 million viewers and a 26% share, the day’s second biggest audience, tuned in the see the typically chaotic return of Roxy and Glenda Mitchell.
There was some respite from Wednesday’s glorious weather on BBC Two, with Horizon: Ice Station Antarctica (8pm) netting 1.6 million viewers and an 8% share, while The Supervet (8pm) continued to tinker with sickly animals on Channel 4 with an audience of 1.4 million and a 7% share.
Channel 5 offered a chance for viewers to live through someone else’s boring workday in GPs: Behind Closed Doors (8pm) and pulled in 879,000 viewers and a 4% share while ITV’s midweek variety show Tonight at the London Palladium was watched by 3.1 million viewers and a 16% share.
Ever earlier at 7pm, Emmerdale‘s (ITV) latest helping of everyday morally corrupt rural folk secured 5.1 million viewers and a 32% share while Coronation Street (ITV) took the day’s top spot with 5.6 million viewers and a 32% 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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