Simon Reeve sets off into the wild with 1.8m

The Garden’s four-parter follows intrepid explorer Simon Reeve as he visits four of the most remote areas on the planet and meets the people who live there.  

On Sunday, the opening instalment drew double the 950,000 (6.7%) slot average and edged ahead of Simon Reeve’s South America which opened with 1.6m (10.8%) in the same slot on a Sunday in September 2022.  It was also significantly ahead of the presenter’s sequel doc Simon Reeve’s Return to Cornwall which informed 1.4m (10%) in the same slot and day in April 2023. 

Wilderness with Simon Reeve is boxsetted on iPlayer.  

The travelogue was bested in the 9pm slot by the second half of ITV1 drama Vera. The third and final episode of the police procedural was watched by 4.2m (26.7%) across its two hours from 8pm, well ahead of the 1.2m (8.5%) who watched the penultimate episode of The Tourist on BBC1. 

Plum Pictures’ four-parter George Clarke’s Adventures in Americana, which is boxsetted on Channel 4’s streaming service, opened with 550,000 (3.8%) on C4, well behind the 1.3m (10%) who tuned into Bill Bailey’s Australian Adventure in the same slot in November.  

The first recoupling of Love Island: All Stars attracted 860,000 (6%) to ITV2, bouncing back from Friday’s series low of 730,000 (5%).  

Rich Holiday, Poor Holiday continued on Channel 5 with 624,000 (4.3%), down on last week’s 897,000 (6.3%).  

At 10pm, Big Boys hit its midway point with 165,000 (1.7%) on C4, just over half of the 303,000 (2.9%) who watched the second series opener last week. The sitcom is boxsetted on C4’s streaming service. 

Saturday 

In the battle of the entertainment schedules, BBC1 dominated the early evening. The second episode of its Gladiators revival entertained 5.4m (36.3%) across the hour from 5.50pm. It drew 400,000 fewer viewers than last week’s opener but more than doubled the 2.9m (24.1%) slot average.  

It was followed by Michael McIntyre’s Big Show, which managed to retain most of its schedule predecessor’s audience, with 4.9m (32.4%) tuning in. 

Gladiators easily fended off competition from ITV1’s Wheel of Fortune, which quizzed 2.4m (15.7%) from 6pm. It was followed by The Masked Singer, which baffled 3.5m (24.5%) across its 90 minutes from 7pm. The latter half of the Bandicoot format was the most-watched programme in that timeframe, followed by Ant & Dec’s Limitless Win which dominated its hour from 8.30pm with 2.8m (23.2%).  

Elsewhere, musical retrospective 1984 at the BBC entertained 610,000 (5%) on BBC2, while C4 aired feature film Independence Day to 770,000 (6.5%) from 7.50pm, while Frogmore House: A Royal Retreat courted 734,000 (6%) on Channel 5. 

Friday 

The Traitors continued its dominance of peaktime, luring 4.3m (28.7%) to BBC1, more than double the 2.1m (14.1%) who watched Beat the Chasers: Celebrity Special on ITV1. QI XL continued on BBC2 with 1.1m (7.5%), ahead of The Canary Islands with Jane McDonald which brought in 903,000 (6%) on Channel 5.  

8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown drew 684,000 (4.6%) on C4, according to Barb data supplied by overnights.tv. 

On multichannel, Love Island: All Stars pulled 730,000 (5%) on ITV2, down on the previous evening’s low of 790,000 (5.4%).