According to Broadcast, Five won the 9pm hour last night:
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“Five’s live coverage of the UEFA Europa League final gave the channel a 20.5% share between 9pm and 10pm last night, edging out ITV1’s Midsomer Murders and trouncing the first episode of BBC1’s Junior Apprentice.
An average of 3.3m (14.9%) tuned in over three hours from 7pm to see Athletico Madrid beat Fulham 2 -1, building to a peak of 6m (25.9%) at 10pm, according to overnight figures from Attentional. The match hit 5.2m at 9pm and mostly stayed above 5m for the remainder.
Between 9pm and 10pm, the second hour of a two-hour Midsomer Murders mystery had a 20.4% share and Sir Alan Sugar’s hunt for a Junior Apprentice averaged 4.3m (16.2%).”
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Onto commissioning news, and ITV has ordered a new 6-part factual series:
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“Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell are to front an ITV1 series that goes beyond the family history of Who Do You Think You Are? to reunite estranged relatives.
Both series are produced by Wall to Wall, but while WDYTYA? focuses on the process of discovering family history, Long Lost Families is about dramatic reunions with living relatives.
The 6 x 60-minute series follows people who have spent years trying to track down a long-lost family member, usually as a result of adoption, but who have hit a brick wall.
They are interviewed about the circumstances of the separation, how it has affected their life and what it would mean to meet the missing person - before being reunited in stages.
Campbell will visit the ‘found’ relative to deliver the news that there is someone searching for them, and then offer them the chance to see a photo and read a letter. The same process will happen with the person who is searching, and the programme will culminate with a face-to-face reunion.
Each episode follows two stories, and those filmed so far include identical twins adopted into different families. Only one of the pair knew she was a twin, even though they live just three miles apart.
Executive producer Leanne Klein said: “There are moments of huge emotional learning and impact, and revelations which we know how to deal with from WDYTYA?. It’s not slavish to format points, but the key moments are all captured on camera and it is very emotionally charged.”
...
Director of factual and daytime Alison Sharman ordered the series with controller of popular factual Jo Clinton Davis. They are understood to have fought off interest from Channel 4, and the show is lined up for an autumn primetime slot.”
They're also lining up two new dramas for Stephen Fry:
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“Stephen Fry has revealed he is set to appear in two new ITV dramas, despite the broadcaster’s decision to axe Kingdom - the series which he produced and starred in - last year.
Kingdom, which was made through Fry’s production company Sprout Pictures, was pulled following three series last year, with Fry revealing the decision on his own blog.
However, the actor and presenter told The Stage that he is now set to appear on ITV in two new dramas, which he said he hoped would be on screen within a couple of years.
Fry also revealed that he is to appear in a new BBC drama this autumn.
Speaking about the ITV shows, he said one was a co-production with his own company and another was being developed by a production house formed by ex-ITV executives.
He said: “I hope to be doing some drama in the next two years with ITV. Two projects we are working closely on have not yet come to fruition - they are in development. There is also a BBC thing I am doing this autumn, but that has not been announced yet.””
