At least JC was over 5m in a week of underwhelming ratings. I originally thought it would have been better placed on Christmas Eve, but given the ratings for the 24th, I think it would have been swallowed up.

Should timeshift well too!

HP should hit the top end of 3m.

BBC2: Top 3 (7pm-11.30pm):
Christmas University Challenge: 2.24m (11.1%)
Dragons' Den: 1.62m (7.4%)
The Good Life (R): 1.51m (7.3%)

From rzt.

ITV inc +1
Emmerdale: 5.94m (28.6%)
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix: 4.14m (19.5%)

Previous episodes of Jonathan Creek have been over 6m. It did well in the great scheme of things but is a bit on the lower end. The Potter movies are doing well, the break definitely helped as they're higher than the last time ITV ran them.

Channel 4 (Top 3: 7pm-1.0am) (exc. +1):
24 Hours in A&E: 1.29m (5.9%)
What Britain Bought in 2016: 1.22m (5.8%)
Arrivals: 0.76m (3.7%)

Robot Wars didn't even get into BBC2's top 3 of the day.

Channel 5 (7pm-12.5am) (exc. +1):
World's Strongest Man: 0.86m (4.2%)
Kitten Rescuers at Christmas: 0.86m (4.1%)
The Most Shocking Celebrity Moments of 2016: 0.78m (4.8%)

Great website, too.

http://www.visitfortitude.com/

BBC4: Top 3 (7pm-12.0):
James May: the Reassembler: 0.53m (2.4%)
Fleetwood Mac: Don't Stop (R): 0.47m (2.7%)
Pop Quiz: the Comeback: 0.37m (1.7%)

I can see ITV running the HP films in the same slots every Christmas now sadly. Doing far better than any programming they could be airing and denting the BBC. I'm sure millions are just dipping in and out of the HP films rather than watching start to finish but they are on long enough that the average comes out high and the share overall is good.

And I fear the BBC will start to use Christmas as a dumping ground for stuff not good enough for the rest of the year when folk are actually watching.

5.1m isn't a disaster for Creek but it could have got 1-2m more I reckon in January even against notionally tougher ITV competition. Is that its lowest ever overnight?

Is EastEnders on tonight and tomorrow ahead of New Years Day? I'm going to predict 6.5m tonight then 6.3m tomorrow then 7m NYD hopefully more.

Excluding +1:

The Big Bang Theory (8.30pm) (E4): 0.88m (4.1%)
Hollyoaks (E4): 0.44m (2.1%)
Grey's Anatomy (Sky Living): 0.12m (0.7%)
Conviction (Sky Living): 0.12m (0.5%)

Here's a fun fact for you: that was the eleventh primetime ITV screening of Harry Potter & The Order of The Phoenix. To get a rating like that for it is pretty good going.

Not too bad for Ethel & Ernest, I'd feared it might be lower than that. Jonathan Creek did OK - a good rating (particularly this week) but underwhelming by Creek's standards. Looks like BBC2 had a disappointing night.

What is it they say, you are never more than 1 metre away from a rat. Well you are definately never far away from a MBB rpt.

A shame Ethel And Ernest didn't get more. Its was superb. I absolutely loved it. I didn't watch Jonathan Creek, but if its true its the last, it looks like its gone out on a relative high rating.

Creek has the potential to timeshift about 2m - unfortunately the substandard previous series has probably put off a lot of viewers. Which is a shame, because although it wasn't perfect, it was better than their efforts in the last 3 years.

Thanks

That is not too bad for Emmerdal when you consider it started half way through Antiques Roadshow.

The Harry Potter rpts are doing exceptioally well. I imagine it wasn't far off 5m in the 9pm hour.

Surely you should know being an EE fan?

Yes I believe it is.

Much lower than usual, not surprising given that Richard Osman was hosting it.
Also it seemed to be a one-off seemingly coming out of nowhere, no wonder it didn't do as well as the main series.

Yes looks like the BBC will become more and more reliant on timeshift for Christmas "treats". I would imagine several Christmas Day shows will add 1.5 million or so, and it will be interesting to see if word of mouth helps the Ethels and Ernests of the week. As you say Creek should push towards 7 million.

This is one fed-up BBC supporter.

2nd paragraph - bit pessimistic. Depends how sassy Charlotte Moore. If she realizes, as I do, that BBC1 could have had better ratings with some better scheduling.

She over-estimating the appeal of Shirley Bassey and wasted a Christmas Eve slot that would have suited something like Outnumbered better. Need to stop putting programmes on Christmas Day just because she's afraid of offending someone or worried about a negative press story if something gets moved to another day.

Also - possibly a poor choice of Agatha Christie story. From what I heard it was based on a short story that was considerably darker than a usual Christie tale and possibly not so viewer-friendly.

For last night Ethel & Ernest did okay for what it did and, anyway, is likely to be one of the most acclaimed programmes on BBC1 all festive season. For the BBC quality of programme should be more important than quantity of viewers.

JC at lowest end of expectation. I wonder what it's true overnight was. Take off Northern Ireland figures from 9pm to 10.30 and add on what Creek got there in its 10.50 slot and is the total still above 5m.

With so many of these programmes, we wait to see the consolidated figures. Large timeshifts, maybe above 2m would make those figures look more respectable.

I've also heard rumours (but nothing confirmed or sourced) that it was the last Creek. I think they'd be silly to confirm such a thing, because as long as Renwick and Davies are willing to return, it's a show that clan always come back in one-off form. I'm sure that when it went on hiatus after series 4, they never would have guessed that they would still be making episodes in 2016!

I come into contact with Alan Davies on a weekly basis at work, so I will slip the show's future into conversation and see what he says!

I wonder if ITV will be tempted to not air the Harry Potter films in the summer and attempt to turn it into an annual Christmas event?

I don't wish to spoil people's fun, but Ratings Thread bogeyman Richard Osman was not presenting it.

OK for Jonathan Creek although it would have been nice to see it a bit higher. Ethel & Earnest didn't do that bad for what it was.

Solid for the Harry Potter repeat. I'm not sure it'll be as good tonight though. Not great for Dragon's Den as its slot last night was a bit random, but once it settles in its Sunday slot it should improve on that number.


It was a regular episode, not a one-off.

I thought you were trying to be funny, but obviously not. I'm sure you're aware your friend Osman hosting it would make no difference whatsoever, as viewers wouldn't even be aware he was hosting (which he actually wasn't).