BBC1 reboot is best of the week, while ITV’s After The Flood makes solid start
Sometimes watching TV is like looking in the mirror, but not on early Saturday nights on BBC1, now that Gladiators has returned with its lycra-clad, muscle-bound cast. Over on ITV1, meanwhile, the celebrity skaters were back and a watery new thriller got under way.
BBC1’s revival of the iconic ’90s series Gladiators opened at 5.50pm on Saturday 13 January with a very strong 6 million/38% in overnights.
After 2.2 million caught up on TV, it finished with a whopping 8.2 million/45% (no device data available), making it, by some distance, the biggest show of the week, ahead of the second episode of ITV1’s veteran detective series Vera on Sunday 14 January at 8pm (6.6 million/33%). In the same slot last year on 14 January, BBC1’s Celebrity Bridge Of Lies launched with just 2.8 million/20% plus 11,000 on devices.
ITV1 thriller After The Flood launched at 9pm on Wednesday 10 January with an overnight rating of 3 million/20%, rising to 5.5 million/26% (no device data avaliable) after 2.5 million caught up on TV after seven days. That made it the second best 9pm drama of the week behind BBC1’s Silent Witness on Monday 8 January (6.3 million/32%).
While not scaling the heights of Mr Bates v The Post Office the previous Monday – few will top its 8.7 million/36% plus 260,000 on devices – After The Flood’s debut was nevertheless impressive. In fact, it was ITV1’s second best 9pm drama launch since spring 2023, equalling the debut of The Hunt For Raoul Moat on 16 April (5.5 million/30%, plus 151,000 on devices). The biggest before that was the opener of the fith series of Unforgotten on 27 February 2023 (6.3 million/30%, plus 163,000 on devices).
The sixteenth series of ITV1’s Dancing On Ice – complete with new host Stephen Mulhern – kicked off on Sunday 14 January at 6pm with an overnight rating of 3.8 million/25%, rising to 4.2 million/25% (no device data available) after 347,000 caught up. That is the show’s lowest seven-day launch rating since its return on 7 January 2018 (8.6 million/36%) after a four-year hiatus.
| Title | Day | Start | Viewers (m) (all homes) | Share (%) | Gain (m) | Gain (%) | Broadcaster | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Silent Witness | Mon | 21.00 | 6.33 | 31.71 | 2.56 | 67.73 | BBC1 |
| 2 | After The Flood | Wed | 21.00 | 5.51 | 26.13 | 2.50 | 83.33 | ITV1/Quay Street Productions |
| 3 | The Traitors | Wed | 21.00 | 6.22 | 29.90 | 2.41 | 63.09 | BBC1/Studio Lambert |
| 4 | The Traitors | Thu | 21.00 | 6.13 | 33.05 | 2.35 | 62.19 | BBC1/Studio Lambert |
| 5 | The Traitors | Fri | 21.00 | 6.22 | 34.16 | 2.26 | 57.26 | BBC1/Studio Lambert |
| 6 | Gladiators | Sat | 17.50 | 8.23 | 44.82 | 2.21 | 36.68 | BBC1/Hungry Bear |
| 7 | Vera | Sun | 20.00 | 6.63 | 32.51 | 2.05 | 44.79 | ITV1/Silverprint Pictures |
| 8 | Silent Witness | Tue | 21.00 | 5.28 | 28.31 | 1.94 | 57.92 | BBC1 |
| 9 | Call The Midwife | Sun | 20.00 | 6.18 | 28.80 | 1.66 | 36.84 | BBC1/Neal Street Productions |
| 10 | 24 Hours In Police Custody | Mon | 21.00 | 3.18 | 15.79 | 1.50 | 89.20 | C4/The Garden |
| 11 | 24 Hours In Police Custody | Tue | 21.00 | 2.92 | 15.46 | 1.23 | 73.16 | C4/The Garden |
| 12 | Grantchester | Thu | 21.00 | 3.41 | 18.15 | 1.16 | 51.62 | ITV1/Kudos |
| 13 | Coronation Street | Fri | 20.00 | 4.36 | 26.94 | 0.89 | 25.82 | ITV1 |
| 13 | Taskmaster: Champion Of Champions | Sun | 21.00 | 1.71 | 9.22 | 0.89 | 108.55 | C4/Avalon Television |
| 15 | The Madame Blanc Mysteries | Thu | 21.00 | 1.76 | 9.38 | 0.86 | 97.06 | C5 /Clapperboard/Saffron Cherry TV |
| 15 | Coronation Street | Wed | 20.00 | 4.78 | 27.80 | 0.86 | 22.01 | ITV1 |
| 17 | Coronation Street | Tue | 20.00 | 4.62 | 29.21 | 0.81 | 21.12 | ITV1 |
| 18 | The Tourist | Sun | 21.00 | 1.99 | 10.86 | 0.78 | 64.25 | BBC1/Two Brothers |
| 19 | Michael McIntyre’s Big Show | Sat | 18.50 | 5.69 | 32.91 | 0.77 | 15.74 | BBC1/Hungry McBear |
| 20 | EastEnders | Wed | 19.30 | 3.20 | 20.54 | 0.74 | 30.30 | BBC1 |
| 21 | EastEnders | Tue | 19.30 | 2.87 | 18.30 | 0.72 | 33.79 | BBC1 |
| 21 | The Graham Norton Show | Fri | 22.40 | 2.77 | 31.65 | 0.72 | 35.21 | BBC1/So Television |
| 23 | The Masked Singer | Sat | 19.00 | 4.68 | 27.95 | 0.70 | 17.62 | ITV1/Bandicoot Scotland |
| 24 | The Great Pottery Throw Down | Sun | 19.45 | 2.22 | 10.75 | 0.68 | 44.43 | C4/So Television |
| 24 | EastEnders | Thu | 19.30 | 3.21 | 21.40 | 0.68 | 26.78 | BBC1 |
| 26 | Truelove | Wed | 21.00 | 1.39 | 6.59 | 0.66 | 89.14 | C4/Clerkenwell Films |
| 27 | Emmerdale | Fri | 19.30 | 4.12 | 28.95 | 0.63 | 18.17 | ITV1 |
| 27 | Dragons’ Den | Thu | 20.00 | 3.57 | 23.72 | 0.63 | 21.48 | BBC1 |
| 29 | Casualty | Sat | 21.20 | 2.94 | 22.93 | 0.59 | 25.06 | BBC1 |
| 30 | Would I Lie To You? | Fri | 20.00 | 3.74 | 23.20 | 0.57 | 18.00 | BBC1/Zeppotron |
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