UK TV Charts - w/e May 3rd, 2009

Bright'n'early this week!! Here's the rundown of the Top 20 most popular UK TV programmes or series for the week ending Sunday 3rd May 2009 collated from information compiled and presented by BARB. Note that figures for multi-episode TV broadcasts (ie soaps or other shows with more than one episode per week) are rounded up into an average figure for the series and are denoted in the chart by * News broadcasts are excluded from the figures.

1) Britain's Got Talent (ITV1)..................11.30
2) Coronation Street (ITV1)......................8.96 *
3) The Apprentice (BBC1).........................8.29
4) EastEnders (BBC1).............................8.12 *
5) UEFA Champions League Football (ITV)..........6.78
6) Ashes To Ashes (BBC1).........................6.59
7) Emmerdale (ITV1)..............................6.57 *
8) Inspector George Gently (BBC1)................6.47
9) Casualty (BBC1)...............................5.90
10) Have I Got News For You (BBC1)................5.39
11) Primeval (ITV1)...............................5.27
12) My Family (BBC1)..............................5.14
13) Holby City (BBC1).............................5.11
14) Countryfile (BBC1)............................5.09
15) Islands of Britain (ITV1).....................4.89
16) Watchdog (BBC1)...............................4.75
17) The Bill (ITV1)...............................4.74
18) Heartbeat (ITV1)..............................4.67
19) Taggart (ITV1)................................4.63
20) Waterloo Road (BBC1)..........................4.62

Chart commentary: No change at the top with C*w*ll's grubby freak show still fascinating a depressingly-high number of viewers who really ought to get out more. The soaps are trailing, all of them a bit moribund at the moment. Good to see the much-improved second series of Ashes To Ashes holding on to a Top Ten slot, a rose amidst thorns. Its figures are down over a million on the first episode of series two (and continuue to fall slowly) but the show will undoubtedly remain a strong presence throughout its eight-week run. Shame the same can't be said for the BBC's accomplished Reggie Perrin reboot which made a strong start last week but disappears from the Top 20 for this second week. It seems people don't have the ability to stick with dramas and comedies week after week any more, so absorbed are they with talent show wannabes. It's all so sad. Robin Hood well and truly out of the chart now but ITV rival Primeval, although its numbers are down, is still making a decent showing and surely deserves a recommissioning. Martin Shaw's latest vehicle, the retitled Inspector George Gently, scores well for a Sunday night on BBC1 and old ITV warhorse Taggart sneaks udner the wire to nab a rare top 20 slot. Elsewhere not much to report; ITV have a middling hit with their Martin Clunes travelogue Islands of Britain and BBC1's faith in Countryfile as a prime time Sunday night show continues to be rewarded with good figures for a very cheap series.

Next chart, w/e May 10th, next Wednesay.